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Chapter Text

Running Up That Hill

Be Running Up that Hill
Prologue

Pain. It wrapped itself around her with the fingers of an unwanted caress. Clinging tightly onto every limb, every pore, every muscle, and every pathway as if she had been stretched and twisted, compressed and confined, and generally pushed to the very brink of exhaustion. It was the deep ebbing pain that even gripped her mind, a siren's call on the edge of a jagged edge Rather something old and new at the same time. An all encompassing ache that dredged along in her soul and almost eluded description entirely.

Trees. Clouds. She struggled to lift her heavy lids and the blurred forms slowly came to recognition as her eyes adjusted to the sudden light. Blinking twice she groggily waved a deceptively delicate hand about in front of her vision, shifting each finger individually and losing focus as they moved about. Everything looked hazy to her weary eyes, as if she had just woken from an unneeded midday nap, synapses firing sluggishly. A darkness gripping to the edges of her vision refused to release its stubborn hold.

Wildlife. Shouting. Metal. Sounds of nearby battle caused her to snap to attention, the shinobi and medic within her battling for control. The midday laze dispersing instantly with a sudden pulse of adrenaline, she was suddenly standing and pulled taut like a band ready to snap, pushing the lingering pain and darkness to the back of her mind. Back into that dank spot she shoved off thoughts to fester and die.

Wind. Branches. She was running before she even registered it, dirtied bare feet pushing off the cluttered ground with purpose. Carelessly leaving bloodied tracks as the sticks and rocks tore into the normally protected flesh, more important matters were at hand. There were voices floating in the wind, the slanted tones of Stone Shinobi and fear tinged shouts of her homeland. Words distorted by distance but the meaning conveyed enough that she felt a shudder down her spine as she pushed a small amount of chakra into her legs to run faster, sparing only a fraction of her dwindled supply.

Chakra. It electrified the air and stung her nose and lungs, the battle ground was steeped in it, and the smell clawed at her subconscious like a forgotten memory. She could remember that the aroma always accompanied a certain jutsu; however she couldn't quite put a name to it, the thoughts as intangible and impermeable as the electricity in the air. As she neared the epicenter the elemental force adhered to her skin, raising gooseflesh and hairs on the back of her neck and cloaking her in familiarity and mystery all the same.

She didn’t stop to think, too tired to let her mind run calculations and just reacted. As soon as she entered the cave she unconsciously registered the markings on the headbands, there was no time to compute the situation and let her sometimes overly logical mind take matters into hand. Before the enemy registered her entrance she was dashing across the cramped space flooding her limbs with chakra her remaining reserves and pushing a dark haired boy to the side. She let a small grunt seeth from between clenched teeth from exertion and mild pain as she punched upwards, allowing her enhanced strength to shatter the large stone falling towards her into harmless pieces. Without her gloves she could feel small rivulets of blood seeping from her knuckles as she lowered her hand. She raised herself, unfolding from the semi crouched position she had been forced to take and look at the three stunned and young shinobi before her, assessing any damage.

She blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Another time just to be sure, and shook her head violently. Her thundering heart stopped and the breath she so desperately needed was lodged in her throat. Pink locks swayed with the movement as she transitioned from the battle-ready kunoichi to a state of strained confusion. She could hear the sing of a kunai cut through the air and the discordant gurgle of a man bleeding from the neck and assumed the enemy had been handled. The shot of adrenaline that had her moving quickly dispersed, leaving her sluggish and the darkness that had been threatening to swallow her vision encroached ever more yet she could clearly see the child before her.

An unmistakable mop of silver hair, one that seemed to defy gravity itself and a black mask stretched over a too young face. One eye bandaged and blood seeping from within and a small tanto dangling from a loose grip . Nothing made sense and she hoped it had merely been the odd exhaustion that was causing her to see this vision.

He was dead.

She and the stragglers of her team had buried him only weeks ago, She was sure of it, she had been the one to spend too much chakra trying to heal his mortal wounds, she felt it down into the very fiber of her being. Yet here he was, looking years younger than herself and staring right back at her with a single drooped gray eye that sung of as much confusion as hers. She slumped forward as the slinking blackness closed in more, barely registered a flash of yellow light and uttered one exhausted word as the ground rushed ever closer.

“Sensei?”

Chapter Text

The earth was a blackened and obliterated mess, a maelstrom of ache and fury ragged on and in the center loomed two figures. One stood tall and imposing, a swirled mask revealing no features, his face as much a mystery as his ambitions. His very aura rang of malevolence and loathing towards the obstacles before him. He stood fatigued and his body bloodied but not overly injured, his large gunbai lay discarded among the jagged rubble, snapped in two from a particularly powerful blow. Facing him was a man in a long crimson coat, the tattered tails shifting in the wind. Where the former could be described as dark, this young shinobi would be light. His sunny yellow hair jutted up every which way with reckless abandon, a whiskered face sat set in steely determination, orange rimmed eyes narrowed in defiance. He too looked drained and battered, fighting with all his might to simply stand before his enemy in boldness.

Sakura Haruno looked upon the destruction that lay in front of her, grief and despair clinging to her like a long torn cloak. The ground had been upturned in multiple locations from the battle, jagged rocks and earth littering the scene, a small pool of raging lava cooling next to its summoner's body. Bodies were scattered about, both friend and foe, a shockingly small amount of the latter only served to rail in the fact that so few of them had remained at the beginning. Her fingers itched to help the remaining dying, the healer within her very core almost weeping in sorrow at the situation, the dread of it all weighing her down like stones. She wished to aid, to patch up her many allies, to give life back to the lifeless, but he had needed her. She simply had no more chakra to give. So drained was she that she couldn't even extract herself from the steely arms that clenched around her neck from some faceless and unnamed adversary.

She felt herself slump in defeat as she listlessly watched the pair converse and combat, a darkness slowly swallowing her vision as she felt her breath start to leave her. Naruto was tiring, that much was obvious by the fact that the yellowed eyes of sage mode were bleeding back to the bright clear blue she knew so well. His dodges were becoming less evasive and more stumbling luck yet he still fought proudly, her weary lips curled into a grin as he yelled some inane and peaceful desire towards his opponent. She steeled herself for the coming blow from her captor, happy that her last thought and sight could be of the golden shinobi that she cared for so much as her vision receded ever further into that inky blackness.

The blow never came, the singing metal of the kunai she had heard sliding out of the nameless nin's pouch never penetrated her flesh, instead she felt a sudden loosening of grip and splatter of warm lifeblood upon her cheek as the sharp instrument found a home within his own neck. She twisted out of the dead man's grip with a shambling gasp to look behind her as a shadow snaked along the ground towards its bleeding owner, her knees caving and dropping on all fours to do so.

"Shikamaru?" The question was breathy as she took in his ragged appearance, jounin vest torn and hanging off a limp arm. The man in question collapsed to the ground, one hand unclasping the lifeless fingers of the other in deactivation of his trademark technique. His short breaths stirred his unbound black hair as he gave her a slight nod. A large bloodstain spread over the sagging shoulder with alarming speed as she crawled as fast as she could nearing his now prone body. "Hold on Shika" she pleaded, coming up next to him, lifting a muddy hand towards him. Soft green light emanated from the offered appendage before sputtering out. She tried twice more, the glow flickering less and less with each attempt. "I'm so sorry," she cried, “just hold on”, she stuttered as the chakra weakly lit before snuffing out like a dying candle. "Damn it," she growled, punching the ground fruitlessly, no force behind the effort and a small cloud of dust rising amidst the duo. Reaching for her profoundly empty medic pouch she cried in more frustration at finding no remaining supplies before ripping strips of her skirt off to staunch the bleeding, no longer caring about sterility.

"Sakura," he said weakly, using his good hand to gently cover her dirty one "it's alright." And then he smiled with such resigned serenity she almost believed it herself. She knew that deep down he really was content with not surviving, the blow he had taken was too close to his heart and she was simply too useless to repair it. He had lost more than most in the war, his family, his team, and just days ago the woman he was in love with. Survivors' guilt weighed heavily on the normally lazy tactician, and she found herself wishing fervently that whatever awaited him beyond the unknown veil of death was no more troublesome than a shoji match with his loved ones.

She gave him what she hoped wasn't a pitying smile in return and dug into the breast pocket of his flak jacket slowly. Pulling out a rumpled rectangular packet and lighter she flipped the lid off and fished out a single cigarette that looked far more than a little worse for wear. She lit the small vice and placed it in his good hand with a teary smile. A nod of understanding was exchanged between the two as she felt that guild twisting her insides, not willing to be abated with his serene words and found herself swallowing the lump within her throat, unwilling to shed tears at the moment, it wasn’t what he needed to see. No more words were to be said as he slowly lifted it to his mouth and closed his drowsy eyes.

Sakura turned away and struggled to her feet, stumbling on her destroyed and tattered boots as she did so. Sparing a final moment to remove the offending footwear she felt her bare feet dig into the littered soil, a small pin prick from a rouge senbon teetering on the edge of her subconsciousness like an annoying gnat. Her eyes narrowed in grim determination as she sluggishly strode forward towards the two power house opponents. Digging in her leg pouch she produced a small scroll, swiping a hand across a large weeping laceration to her thigh in the process, biting her teeth to keep from hissing at the sting. She placed the now bloodied hand upon the roll activating a seal in doing so. A small flash followed as she now gripped a familiar tonto, one that belonged to someone else long ago and was known for gleaming a bright shining white light, now in her hands it was only a sharp reminder. Her other hand reaching for a half broken energy ration from her other holster, her soldier pills having run out long ago. She choked the pill down grimacing at the taste while doing so, adrenaline started coursing throughout her limbs without the added benefits of chakra.

Limping towards the epicenter of the combat she held the arm with the weapon out ready, watching the jitters from the ration recede as the adrenaline started to even out. She felt energized but not entirely renewed, the haze of pain only being blocked by the chemicals. As the malaise retreated her limp became less prominent, her slow gait slowly becoming more of a frenzied dash. She may not be able to reinforce her punches with the vibrant green energy she normally relied on but she was resolute to be of some use to her friend, the boy she had waited too long to fall for, the one who she now loved from afar.

She ran up the hill and leapt towards the back of the enemy futilely with only half her normal speed and a fraction of the strength, intent to do nothing more than distract the monster of a man, to be that offending buzz in his ear. Her breath caught as both she and the tonto held before her seamlessly phased through the should-be-solid body before her, leaving her unfocused and uncentered. She staggered and attempted to regain her balance as Naruto shouted her name in concern. She clearly heard the word but it seemed to almost flutter on the wind as she had passed through the nin, as if it too were just nearly not there. She watched him as he dashed forward in an attempt to punch the claiming to be Uchiha that was preoccupied with swatting her away like a pest, mentally pleading with him to use this distraction to his benefit. But the blow that landed was full force, solid and sending her unbalanced form away from the duo, tumbling down the knoll.

She groaned as she came to a stop, slowly pushing herself up with her feeble arms and wiping away a trickle of blood that leaked from her lips. Naruto was bellowing in rage, spewing insults, pleads, and diatribes towards his dark opponent that were too fast to follow, as he quickly executed frenzied taijutsu, all of which were blocked by his much calmer opponent. He jumped back from his failed onslaught and began swirling bright blue chakra to his hand.

Time slowed.

The seconds turned to hours as she watched him charge forward, clones sent before him. As the masked nin single handedly dispatched the two copies he began creating seals with the other hand. Naruto's arm was outstretched, his face set in a confident sneer as he firmly believed this to be the final blow, and it was with that look that she realized the truth.

It was then that she saw the downfall and a plan unfolded within her exhausted mind.

The angry red chakra that was slowly bubbling up was making him inattentive, he hadn't seen the hand signs his opponent was making and wouldn't be able to dodge whatever impending attack the man was orchestrating.

Time stopped.

Naruto was weakened and while his assault seemed to be a last ditch effort she knew him well enough to know he still had more fight to give in him. She however was bloodied and broken, chakra-less and relying on already failing borrowed power, nothing but inadequate and in the way at this point.

A bloodied hand slid up her torn shirt, reaching for a patch of flesh irritated and raised from a recent tattoo. Before she had a chance to doubt herself she prayed to Kami that her design worked and transferred her last remaining iota of Chakra into a seal that was inked onto her side, dredging up the energy from her pathways, using the consistent lining of it that protected them from harm, knowing that there was no going back now.

Time flew.

She felt her entire being shift and compress, like she was being pulled through a narrow tube. The burn of her scorched pathways and the twisting caused her mouth to drop open in a silent scream. It was instantaneous and yet felt like forever all in the same moment and she vaguely wondered if she had possibly left behind a bright pink flash.

Suddenly she was jarred back into reality staring into impossibly blue eyes widened in utter disbelief and dread, his extended arm with the jutsu only moments from impacting her now standing form, the momentum too much to stop the trajectory. The unknown jutsu collided forcibly with her back as she was still feeling the effects of her technique, the strength causing her to cough, more lifeblood flowing from her lips and spraying the crimson towards her teammate, that never seemed to reach his pallid face.

Naruto's hand and rasengan slammed into her with the power of a mighty gale, yet she never felt it, she briefly wondered if maybe death wasn’t painful after all, or if she had simply burned out all of the nerve endings so much that she had lost all sensation. She looked towards her chest where she expected gore and pain and given the devastated look upon his face he clearly anticipated the same. A strangled gasp echoed from the enemy followed by gurgles as the imposing shadow behind her collapsed to the ground. She registered no pain, no viscera or any damage upon her body from the jutsu, yet Naruto stood with his arm plainly impaling her. She reached up to grab the arm for support, her knees giving out from exhaustion, only to have her hand pass right through the appendage. Before either could utter a word a sudden light emanated from her abdomen, right where the seal was located.

She closed her eyes at the sudden flash and knew no more.

Chapter Text

Something was tickling her nose. It was as incessant as the gentle weightless sway that came with being carried on someone's back. There was a slight jostling as her transportation shifted her weight in their hands, the wind rushing by her face causing that annoying featherlight tickle on her face again. 

She languidly opened her eyes, catching glimpses of blond hair and night sky before the heavy lids drifted shut again. Her limbs dangled uselessly as she was carried on the owner's back, so little energy left within them to even grasp around the shoulders or torso for stability. She strained her ears, focused all her barely there consciousness to make sense of what was around her, three sets of smaller feet dutifully following the man holding her as she attempted to recall what had transpired. 

Bleary images of her and Naruto facing off against an unknown man believed to be Madara floated to the forefront of her mind. She blinked and attempted to focus blurred eyes on the form carrying her. The telltale blond spikes set her at ease as she let herself surrender to the fatigue that so easily claimed her form, a small breathy sigh of "Naruto," passing her lips.

She awoke to a chilled ground and a dying fire this time, the exhaustion and severe chakra depletion leaving her as weak and vulnerable as a babe. She attempted to slowly stretch her arms to relieve tension only to quietly hiss in failure and discomfort, not willing to try and use her chakra to alleviate the pain that blossomed from what she suspected was a cracked rib she settled for sluggishly cradling her midsection. She peered into the dim moonlight to see three shadowy forms slumbering on the other side of the glowing embers.

Confusion ebbed and flowed within her. She knew well all those involved with the battle, there were not young genin anywhere near the field. She struggled for a slight moment, the realization that she must have survived the fight settling in a weighty haze over her. A momentary sense of the unknown struggling forth past the heady feeling of victory. There was nothing left to return to, no friends to chant and celebrate with, it was just her and Naruto and the three small strangers left to wander and start anew in the thoroughly decimated ninja nations. 

Maybe they would find a small farm in an untouched fishing village set deep into an untainted valley, protected from the turmoil that had wrought the land for the past five years. She felt her lips crack as a small grin stretched across the dehydrated and dried surface. It was a tiny tangible dream she could see that was within her reach, a happy ending for her and Naruto, something she was so sure she threw away the moment she chose to sacrifice herself for him. 

Pulling herself from her internal dreaming she focused on the here and now, that quaint cozy future was still in the distance and no more than a desire. She gave a mental shake, she must be concussed or something similar for her thoughts to be meandering this much, for everything to be so foreign and just slightly off. 

Soft shuffling reached her ears from a rock set slightly off from the fire. A shadowed figure had sprung to combat readiness at her gentle movements, the flickering light from the flames illuminating blond hair and a green vest. 'Odd, he must have ruined his clothes' she thought vaguely wondering why he stood so tensely as if awaiting her to make the first move. She started adjusting herself in an attempt to sit up when he suddenly grabbed for something hidden in a pouch, the polished metal of his fathers prized three pronged kunai glinting in the firelight. 

"Don't," the word was spoken softly yet with immense command. 

Sakura recoiled as if burned, making a small noise of discomfort at the abrupt movement. Unwilling tears started to gather as she could hear the three unknown figures slowly come to wakefulness. His voice was deeper, more serious and it retained none of the wonderfully sunny tones he seemed to reserve only for her. 'He must just be exhausted,' she reasoned with herself squinting into the darkness to see if he was injured. The small flickers of light refused to allow for any visible damage to be seen. She shook her head as if to disperse any cobwebs yet couldn't seem to find any answer or reason for her current placement, injury, or situation.

"Naruto, what happened?"

-xxxxx-

He cast a wary eye on the slumbering form of his new traveling companion. She was petal haired, unusual yet not entirely impossible for a shinobi, and pale skinned, at least he believed her to be, her uniform and bruises leaving little unblemished flesh to discern a true color. His brow quirked slightly when he took in her aforementioned uniform, not dissimilar to his own only with a skirt instead of the normal long pants many seemed to prefer, not many young shinobi her age would willingly wear the standard war fatigues older jonin and chunnin sported often. It was however the symbol upon the metal plate adorning her headband that had him most curious, to his knowledge no village simply used the symbol for shinobi.

His eyes flicked quickly towards his students when he noticed the near silent movements of the unknown woman waking. They remained blissfully unaware and asleep as she hissed in pain and he made a quick mental note to reprimand them later, even if they were severely exhausted they had been trained better. He was standing at the ready before he had even really comprehended the action, his original plan to remain non-threatening out the window with his long ingrained training. The girl finally pulled herself from her thoughts and attempted to sit up and he unconsciously reached for an ever present kunai.

"Don't," he almost visibly sighed when she recoiled, angered at himself for the poor delivery, he had only meant for her to refrain from injuring herself more after all. The slight woman recovered quickly and seemed to peer into the darkness towards his form almost in familiarity, her eyes searching longingly for a clue to the current predicament. She shook her head slightly and almost deflated before finally giving into something.

"Naruto," she called to him, voice full of concern and confusion, "what happened?" her eyes shining viridian and watery in the low light of the fire. He faltered, unsure of how to answer the heavy question all the while attempting to recall who Naruto might be and why she seemed to believe it was him. His young students were shaking of sleep now standing to late attention as if waiting for an order, each had a weapon held loosely in hand.

The wind quickly picked up across the small field they had camped in that night, almost as if the weather itself could feel the apprehension of the situation. In retaliation the embers of the fire pit grew to a mighty blaze, unwilling to yield to the forces of nature. The girl's face became clearer now in the new light, her lips forming a small gasp as her eyes hardened turning from grass meadows to sharpened emeralds. "You," she clambered to her feet, bare toes digging into the soft earth for traction, "are not Naruto." He quietly admired her fortitude, knowing that she must be in immense pain, as she was suddenly crouched into a battle stance. "Who are you?" the question floated along the breeze filled to the brim with venom.

He quickly held his hands into a surrender, side eyeing his unit to do what they must to appear non-threatening. "We are leaf shinobi, we mean you no harm," he sighed internally, this had not gone to plan at all. "I found you collapsed next to my team, they told me you had saved them so I had my field medic return the favor," he watched her shrewdly as she seemed to retreat into herself either weighing options or attempting to remember certain moments.

She seemed to notice his team now, the three teens who stood off to the side somewhat awkwardly. Her eyes quickly locked onto his new jonin, the one who held himself overconfidently despite now having bandages covering the half of his face that remained unmasked. His unmistakable hair ruffled slightly in the breeze as he seemed to stand straighter under the scrutiny. He watched a series of emotions dance across her face, shock, confusion and finally an odd dawning of understanding before her eyes hardened, features going blank and impassive. Her jade eyes quickly passed over the other two before turning to him sharply, her face a carefully controlled mask. "Shinobi-san, may I ask your name?" her voice sounded subdued, no longer leaking hostility. The dulcet tones instead seemed tinged in fear and uncertainty. 

He shuffled stiffly, "I've seen your headband, even if I don't recognize your village I'm sure you know as well as I that is prohibited," at his words he felt as if she was cracking slowly, the once unreadable mask slipping away to reveal something else entirely.

"Please," she pleaded, voice almost quivering. "I won't do a thing to endanger you or your team just tell me your name," he wondered why it was so important for her to know, even academy students had more control than she was showing.

He relented slightly, if only to attempt to keep some semblance of his political training intact. "I am known as 'The Yellow Flash' to those outside of my village," the words had the opposite effect on the kunoichi as he had wished. The mask had broken, shattered as emotions flickered across her face, they finally ended as rage clouded her eyes at the half answered question.

She drew herself to her full height quickly reaching to grab something from the inner pockets of her regulation vest. Each member of his team tensed and balanced on the balls of their feet ready to attack. A metal plate bereft of any fabric headband was quickly thrown to his feet, the leaf symbol glinting in the firelight, older and showing wear and tear. "I am Sakura Haruno, Jonin of Konoha, you will tell me your name," she spoke quickly and desperately, as if afraid of the reply. 

"Minato Namikaze"

He gave an almost imperceptible sigh, it was useless to hide his identity, not with a flee on sight order given in the bingo books anyways. He only wished that he didn’t have to watch her fall apart at the answer. 

-xxxxx-

During peacetime when not on missions most shinobi preferred to either train or act as if they had some minutia of normality within their lives. Some would make a way of life out of persistently pushing their bodies to the very limits by consistent exercise like Rock Lee or his ever eccentric teacher Might Guy. Others however wished to concentrate more on the mundane outside of the uniform, Ino Yamanaka for example and working in her family flower shop and waxing lyrical about a new boy toy of the week.

Each shinobi had a different way to cope with the darkest sides of their career. The only thing they all had in common was a trait inherently ingrained into each one from the earliest lessons in the academy. Secrecy. The secrets kept would always manifest in diverse ways. In the case of the blonde flower arranger while she would go on about a different male every week she kept the true apple of her eye close to her heart. Sometimes it would be a physical secret like the ever present mask upon the face of jonin commander Kakashi Hatake.

War time was vastly different. While camped out on the open battlefield secrets were widely shared over dying fires. The phenomenon was never truly explored but the general consensus was that humans innately want to be remembered. What good were mysteries of the past when you could be splayed out dying in a pool of your own lifeblood the next day? It was this general thinking that led to many stories being swapped during meal times, though the famous mask was never removed.

Sakura prided herself on her eidetic memory, during the beginning days of war she collected stories, treating them like puzzle pieces to solve the mysteries that were her comrades. She knew that Neji Hyuuga fondly remembers and recalls elaborate tea parties he and his younger cousin Hinata Hyuuga used to have during summer afternoons, where he developed a sweet tooth that was near uncontrollable. She knew that shortly after the debacle that was their first chunnin exam Shikamaru Nara and Temari of the Sand played a game of shoji in which she nearly won because Shikamaru was so flustered from his father insinuating that they were together.

She recalled the darker, more unfortunate stories as well. The origin of Kakashi's sharingan eye always weighed heavy on her heart, the pain and sorrow felt by the young team burrowing deeper as she mentally replayed the tale so essential to her one time sensei.

The only conversation that remained more imprinted into her soul than the failed mission was one she had with the one bright soul in the middle of the darkness that was war.

"Sakura," he had begun, far more serious than she was used to. "I found out who my dad was a while ago. It was back during the invasion. Did you know he was the Forth?" he had rambled on, not really waiting for her to reply. "I knew I was destined to be Hokage, it even runs in my blood." He had smiled at her brightly then and she had felt her heart swell with affection and the stirrings of love. "I have a new dream now, you know? I don't just want to be Hokage anymore, I want to be a Hokage my dad would be proud of" she remembered him wandering off, the heavy mood dissipating as he muttered on about needing to find some good ramen and wondering if he should change his last name to Namikaze after the war. 

-xxxxx-

She was numb, a prisoner in her own body. A living breathing statue that was merely seconds away from crumbling into dust. 

"Sensei I've rewrapped all of her bandages and applied more salve, she didn't really react to any of it though so I think she might be in shock," a timid voice slipped along the edges of her consciousness. "Actually," the female voice spoke more assuredly, overwriting her previous statements "it is in my medical opinion that she is suffering from shock." Sakura paid no attention to the voice as the owner continued to flutter about checking and rechecking this and that as if to back up her claim.

"Whoa Rin you almost sounded like a real medic right then" this time it was the voice of a male, he sounded like he was afflicted with the same perpetual happiness Naruto seemed to carry around. Her fingers slightly twitched at the voice, willing themselves to form a fist and enact her usual punishment for comments like those. However in her numbed state they did no more than spasm.

"Obito, I am a real medic," the female chastised quietly yet confidentially, a small slapping sound followed the statement. A quiet groan trailed from the bright male. "Oh, did I hit you too hard Obito? I'm sorry I was only trying to be silly, to lighten up the mood like you do." she apologized profusely, regret lingering on every syllable. A shuffling of clothes and the sounds of a gentle embrace followed. 

'Do you think if I treated you this way things would have been different Naruto?' she wondered languidly, thinking back to all of the apologies left unsaid, all of the senseless injuries she dealt out to him.

All of the moments that were ruined and wasted by her actions. The happy ever after she was dissonantly dreaming about just a short time ago nothing but a wisp of clouds in the wind now. 

She knew was awake, her eyes were open yet she felt unseeing. Colors and blurs were floating within her view yet she simply couldn't seem to put them together to form scenes. Memories of a bloody battle clashing with waking in a low lit field. She was struggling to place everything in the right order.

'This simply makes no sense, it cannot be happening' she concluded finally. The undeniable effects of her untested seal and the masked nins jutsu unraveling before her.

Her mind was reeling, attempting to process too much at once and she was left feeling as if she were tethered to a pole in a windstorm, simply fighting to hold on. Too much was wrong, too much information was streaming in overwhelming her senses in a riot of true and false and she couldn't seem to break from the internal crashing she was experiencing.

"Rin don't fall for his act, he is just playing you to get attention," a familiar yet wholly unfamiliar voice called out next. It was cold and jagged yet not as deep and sluggish as she was used to. She yearned to reach out to him for guidance yet held her tongue, forcing herself to remember he was now years younger than her, little more than a child.

She needed to sort things out, everything was clutter, jumbled thoughts and factoids floating to the surface without coherence. Her years of helping her shishou with filling paperwork and organizing old dusty rooms aiding in the retrieval of the knowledge.

Team 3, leader Minato Namikaze.

Members Kakashi Hatake, Rin Nohara, and Obito Uchiha.

Team active for 4 years.

A cave, a collapse and a missing eye.

Sakura's frame jolted suddenly, her eyes widened as the missing pieces seemed to drift together into some semblance of a timeline. Soft whispers touched her mind, Kakashi's low voice recounting the horrible truth of his adolescent team as they huddled together for warmth by the fire one particularly brutal night. The harsh lessons he learned only after failing as a leader. The gift from a dying friend that turned him into the force that he was known to be.

Eyes focused, she turned to study the silver haired shinobi, once again taking in his appearance paying special attention to the fresh bandages over his left eye and the small rip in his mask that was below it. Bandages that she was now sure did not in fact hide a coveted Sharingan eye.

'The cave,' she recollected, allowing herself to fully sink into the previously broken memory. 'I pushed him out of the way, he was supposed to be crushed.' Her eyes traveled towards the exuberant Uchiha who seemed to be gearing up to enter a verbal battle with his lazy eyed rival. 'I saved his life, albeit unknowingly. I changed his path and so far there are no unforeseen consequences.'

Everything sharpened into a startling clarity. 

She struggled to her feet, locking eyes with the blond hero of her village. Steely determination oozed from every pore as she braced herself on her good leg. "Namikaze-san, I thank you for the medical care," she started quietly yet unwavering, paying close mind to the now tensed forms before her, " though I have to ask for one more favor. Please take me back to Konoha with you. I am aware I can't make it alone in the state I am in." she concluded looking towards the soon to be Hokage hopefully.

He in return gave a small grin, one so similar yet entirely unlike Naruto that she felt her breath and her balance falter at the vivid reminder. "I think we can manage that." She returned his smile in thanks, quietly settling down by the blazing embers to regain her strength for the journey ahead.

The puzzle pieces had finally snapped into place and the picture laid out a new path for her to follow. 

'I can change everything.'

'I will change everything.'

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Want To Hear About the Deal I'm Making?

The light from her candles threatened to blow out with every harsh gust of wind that rocked her tent flaps. Sakura gave a small hiss of pain when she pricked her finger with a needle at a particularly dark moment. With a momentary glow of the lilac rhombus on her forehead the small puncture knit itself back together before even a droplet of blood could fall. She glanced over to the tree trunk she had dragged next to her small cot to use as a table, eyes cautiously scanning the worn scrolls weighed down by rocks. Her hand stilled at her study of the notes quickly adjusting before she continued to stitch a tiny pattern into a seemingly endless sea of red.

She languidly turned her head towards the flaps of her tent as she heard steps approaching, too uniformly spaced to be Naruto's erratic walk. She let her chakra leak along the dirt until it sensed the presence just outside the canvas. "Come on in Sai," she quietly spoke before he could fully pause in his movements. The pale ex-root member slid inside quickly keeping most of the gale from entering her tiny space. He shot her a small but genuine smile as he gently shook his inky hair as if to rid it of the rain that had drenched him earlier, droplets splattering the ground from the action. "What brings you here?" she asked, looking back down to the small seal she had been sewing as he gracefully sunk to the empty cot across from her, one used for any nin who may need overnight supervision but was safe enough to move.

"I am attempting to hide from Yamanaka-san," he spoke evenly, still working on integrating emotions into his daily life. She spared him a questioning glance and he continued without preamble. "I believe I have unintentionally sent her a 'signal'," small air quotes were even thrown into the air at the word. "and she is insistent on sharing an evening meal with me."

Sakura exhaled softly in quiet amusement while tying a small knot in the red thread. "Well Sai I'm sorry to inform you but you will need to hide much better from her then, I imagine she'll be here soon demanding my help hunt you down." He gave an almost unnoticeable slump at her words.

"Very well Hag, I will attempt to find somewhere else." He stood to leave only to come closer and inspect the careful stitch work she had just completed "I was unaware you were skilled in embroidery." she smiled in thanks at the small compliment. "Why do you have Naruto-sans coat though?"

"Well he seemed so sad when it caught on a rock and ripped yesterday," she started failing to mention that she had in fact sent a small amount of chakra tremoring along the ground to purposefully create the offending jagged stone "so I offered to sew it back up for him."

He stared at her quizzically, "That is not where it had been torn though."

Her body froze for a mere fraction of a second as she frantically attempted to come up with some sort of half-truth that didn't reveal the danger of the seals she was working with. "That's true, I've already finished mending it so I decided to add a design that is meant to bring good luck." She hoped he believed the quick thought deception.

He nodded and seemed to file the small bit of information away. "Well it is very aesthetically pleasing," his head tilted minutely to the side listening for something far away. "I must take my leave now, Yamanaka-san is quickly coming this way" he stated, moving towards the back of her tent.

"Sai," he stilled his movements, waiting for her to continue "Don't tell anyone about this please." She gestured towards the embroidered fabric, the tiny stitches near imperceptible in the low light. "I don't want to be up all night doing these for everyone now." She once again fibbed to the ink-master.

"I understand." She could hear small rustles of cloth as he slunk under the back portion of her tent. When she felt he was far enough away to not become suspicious she let a small exhalation of air out in relief. Explaining the meaning and use of the seal to the emotionally stunted nin had not been high on her list of activities that night. Gently setting the long overcoat to the side she started rolling up the assorted scrolls sparing a slight grimace for the lewdly drawn woman in the upper right hand corner.

'I guess Jiraiya would even draw on his own important notes if the inspiration struck' she pretended not to notice the portraits similarity to her shishou as she turned to pull together a pile of her own findings on the research, a detailed drawing of a distinctive three pronged kunai taking up most of one page. 'I'll just need to get a bit more ink then I can mix it with my chakra and start applying the tattoo' having stashed away all of her studies she sank towards her cot once again picking up the scarlet coat. She fingered the barely noticeable seal that was a mirror copy of the one used for the yellow flash's famous Hiraishin no Jutsu, happy with the result.
Hearing angry stomps in the direction of her temporary home she quickly dropped the fabric. A svelte blonde crashed into the tent allowing rain and wind to gust in and almost extinguish her lights. "Hey Forehead have you seen that socially awkward teammate of yours lately, we are supposed to sit together for dinner and I'm getting hungry" Ino

Yamanaka ranted quickly, her long ponytail fluttering about as she angrily placed her hands on her hips, raindrops sprinkling to the ground to join the rapidly drying ones that her prey had left behind.

Sakura sighed quietly. "Sorry Pig I haven't seen him all day"

-xxxxx-

Rin Nohara was studious and observant, she was always near the top of her classes in the academy despite her lacking physical abilities, and even then she wasn’t the worst. Sure her taijutsu was laughable at best but she could easily solve logic puzzles quicker than anyone who wasn't her silver haired teammate. Within her small team she was well known as the source of emotional empathy as well, finding it all too easy to care for any injured soul that may wander across her path. It was because of these specific character traits that she couldn't seem to pull her focus away from the mysterious petal haired kunoichi who sat opposite her.

She had been secretly stealing glances at the woman's (for that is what she was to Rin who was only a tender fourteen years of age) face filing away each flicker of emotion that passed across it. Her observations had started when she awoke to the conversation between the Nin and her sensei and she mentally remarked that the woman had an utter lack of control of her emotions, a very bad trait for any successful shinobi. That had been more than an hour ago and now she sat near the fire making an almost mental checklist of the things she had noticed. Sakura (who she had revealed herself to be in what seemed to be a fit of defiance) had two headbands yet neither were scratched through. So she wasn't visibly a missing nin yet that didn't rule out her being a possible spy, this was a time of war after all. Yet Rin felt that this brash emotional woman wouldn't quite be able to keep the life of secrecy required of an infiltrator.

She had been severely injured and chakra depleted to the point that it had taken Rin (who believed she was a rather decent medic) several days to heal her almost completely. That in itself wasn't entirely odd as it was, like she recalled earlier, a time of war. What was odd was that on top of the injuries she seemed to be almost malnourished, the shinobi of Konoha were always sent on short enough missions and with enough supplies to never encounter possible hunger issues. Perhaps she had been a captive who recently escaped, 'No' Rin gave herself a tiny shake, none of her injuries seemed to be that of a prisoner of war. She didn’t have any ropey banding scars that screamed of bound hands nor any of the striking gashes that made roadmaps of someones back from whippings. Her nails were intact albeit worn and chipped and she didn’t have the haunted look to her eyes of someone tortured.

Finally there had been the myriad of emotions she displayed within the short amount of time she had been conscious. Obito quickly gave her a questioning glance as she sighed audibly. This mysterious woman was like one giant puzzle that only had patches solved, Rin knew once she could complete the framework everything would then fall into place. Who was this woman who could exhibit such ferocity one moment and seemingly utter despair and confusion the next? How could she then pull herself from an almost catatonic state of shock and become so suddenly determined?

Most importantly, why did she look at Minato and Kakashi with near fondness when no one knew who she was?

They had been sitting in near silence letting the warmth from the fire caress their skin waiting for the sun to rise when Obito finally seemed to give into the curiosity that had been cloaking her entire team.

"So Haruno-san what were you doing near that cave earlier?" Rin noticed that the woman's eyes quickly widened in momentary surprise and gave her loud teammate a gentle nudge to the ribs. He in turn fidgeted in nervousness and continued "I mean not that I'm not totally thankful for you saving my life and all, because I totally am. I just thought we were the only team in the area"

Rin observed that the pink haired woman's hand reached to rub a purple diamond on her forehead, a trait that she noticed she seemed to do often, before she let her shoulders drop with a sigh and began to spin her tale.

-xxxxx-

To say Sakura was quite shocked when introductions had been made would have been quite an understatement, aside from looks the ebony haired boy was nothing like the Uchihas she had known, in fact his easy going temperament reminded her of another sunny boy all too painfully. She almost smiled wistfully at him before the weight of his inquisitive questions fully sunk into her. She had been too busy making plans to alter her war-torn future that she hadn't thought of an excuse for her current presence let alone one that would be believable enough to fool the two very famous shinobi and the girl with calculating eyes in front of her.

She reached a pale hand towards her forehead and rubbed the space where her Yin seal resided, a bad habit that developed after it first appeared during the early days of the war. Soon enough people often knew that the small tick meant she was overstressed and learned to beware. She offhandedly remembered that during the last large battle she had used the seal's effects and internally grumbled to herself about her body being unable to self-heal without it, that explained why the young medic had needed to take so long to heal her body.

Sakura shifted her eyes from the overactive chunin to the blond soon-to-be Hokage. She let out a small sigh as her shoulders sagged and hoped she was convincing. "I was returning from a solo mission that was several leagues north of here and my designated path back had a large group of enemies, I went off in a direction that I thought had no active combat." She shrugged in a hopefully nonchalant way when she finished, channeling Shikamaru into her movements and fervently hoping that in the given situation less information would be more.

Minato's brow furrowed a fraction at her story as he gave his insight "You were very wounded, why would you willingly rush to the sounds of combat when you knew it would most likely be our enemies?" his impossibly blue eyes bored into her prompting her to continue. The shade was so eerily reminiscent that she struggled to remember just who she was speaking to.

She knew well enough to know that the truth would be best for her answer "I'm a medic, it comes naturally. I was going to hang back until I saw the leaf symbol on your team here." She slowly allowed a tiny trickle of chakra flow towards her hands, lighting up her fingertips with an almost eerie green glow in the firelight. She had spoken the truth too, it was too ingrained into her by now to just leave the sounds of battle alone. She didn't want to mention however that when she woke up she had no idea she had somehow been thrown many years into her own past and simply thought it was one of her allies in trouble.

She watched as the suspicion grew on the Namikaze's face and deflated nearly crumpling into herself. Her arrival was just too convenient, even for her, and she knew that no amount of storytelling would convince this man that she was not the enemy and she was obviously only left alive out of good will for saving his students.

"You don't believe me and that's fine. I understand." She started her voice dripping in defeat "Just know that I would never harm any citizen of Konoha, but I need to get to the village and I need to speak to the Hokage right away," she continued holding up a hand to stop the blond who was ready to interrupt "I know I will need to be interrogated and I don't care, you could even blindfold me and take me to the village in chains if you have to." She pleaded to him finally unable to mince words anymore before wincing at the thought that she just offered to be bound and blinded for what was sure to be a very uncomfortable journey. “Just get me there. Please.” she struggled out in an almost whisper, begging him as if he had food and she was a man starved.

She looked towards Minato hopefully as he shot her a smile that was so similar that she almost felt her mind blank and she had to turn away from the man in order to get her thoughts back on track. "Well I don't think that will be necessary," there was a pause in his voice and the world went shockingly still, he didn't believe her and he wouldn't let her get into Konoha without a fight.

The grass even seemed to still in the gentle breeze, her heart stuttered to a stop and she felt herself teetering on the edge of some great chasm, one simple slip to tilt over and plunge into emptiness forever more.

So many ideas, so many plans down the drain as her journey was bound to end here.

His words continued then, snapping her back into the now that was her new reality. "Get some rest we'll leave at sun up"

The frightening grip that clasped her heart let loose and she felt the shuddering breath bring oxygen to her once more, blood coursing through wilted veins and the utter defeat that had nearly swallowed her whole let her go with the simple command.

Sakura finally felt herself relax for the first time in a long while.

-xxxxx-

Inoichi Yamanaka had been having a surprisingly peaceful day. His morning had started off with a lovely surprise from his wife of his favorite onigiri for breakfast, it was quickly followed by finding that the intelligence division had restocked the coffee in the break room to his preferred brand.

He had poured the perfect combination of sugar and cream on his first try and was able to enjoy several small conversations with his coworkers as he languidly made his way towards his mostly empty desk. He had only had three small piles of simple paperwork and two of them had been completed with relative ease with only a small interruption from the realtor agreeing to meet him later in the afternoon about a vacant florist shop. As he was sitting down to enjoy the homemade bento his wife had lovingly prepared for him he mused about just how rare days like this were in a time of war.

Yes he had been having a suspiciously pleasant day, which had been rudely interrupted by a curt ANBU requesting his presence in an interrogation room and rushing him mid bite to said room where an unknown pink haired young woman stared at him with uncomfortable amounts of familiarity.

He studied the woman while silently biding his wonderfully serene day goodbye.

She was young, looked to be around seventeen or eighteen and sat oddly calm for someone who was currently cuffed to a chair with thick chakra suppressing straps. When she turned her head towards him and greeted him with a cordial "Hello Yamanaka-san," he tried not to react to the recognition from her, even though she was unknown to him didn't mean she couldn't put contextual clues together, his family did have rather peculiar pupil-less eyes. He carefully schooled his features into the bland expressionless mask that all interrogators were expected to don and quickly skimmed his eyes over the brief missive he had been handed by the black ops agent.

Name: Sakura Haruno

Cause for Questioning: Subject was found by Jounin Sensei Minato Namikaze unconscious and wearing an unrecognized headband. Had previously assisted in the rescue of Namikaze-sans team. Upon regaining consciousness claimed to be a shinobi of Konohagakure and produced a separate hitai-ate with the leaf symbol and demanded to be taken to the Hokage. Has cooperated with all procedures and offered to be bound upon the return journey. Has shown no hostility. Treat with suspicion.

She had sat patiently while he took in the information and he gave a small sigh as he began to ask the questions out of formality. "You claim to be a citizen of Konoha, may I have your name and identification number?"

He noted the deep breath she took before she started "My name is Sakura Haruno, Jounin of Konohagakure. Identification number 012601. Please I need to speak…" he held up a hand to silence her before she could continue, noticing that she seemed to be becoming agitated.

He recalled the family name she had given and knew that Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno were the only shinobi registered to Konoha and even then they had been first generation and had no family left. He didn't know where this woman got her information from but they were obviously very inept and had not done any study, the id number she had given was telling enough, it was simply far off of any used numbers to be reasonable. He decided to continue on with the questioning before resorting to any special techniques.

"Why did you save Obito Uchiha?"

"He was an ally," she answered softly, offering no other explanation.

"Why did you demand to see the Hokage?" He questioned knowing with every passing moment that he would soon need to use his family's famed jutsu.

She seemed to be gaining more confidence in herself as her back straightened and her jade green eyes gained a glint of determination before she answered. "I have important information concerning the safety of the village. I need to speak to him and I need to speak to him alone."

At her last sentence he tensed quickly and returned her look of determination with one of incredulousness. Before him was a slip of a girl entirely untrusted by every official to know about her and demanding to see the village's leader all alone.

Before him was a very, very poor infiltrator.

A woman who claimed to be from a family that had just started setting roots in Konoha and gave a shinobi identification number that shouldn't be reached in nearly a decade. Her hair was several shades lighter than the pale magenta of the Haruno she claimed relation to nor did she share his blue eyes. A stray thought flitted through his mind, on that a certain Nara would most definitely use to further humiliate him at a later date if he were to ever find out. 'Could she be?' he minutely shook his head and didn't allow himself any further thought on the subject and instead set down his paperwork leveling her with a hard stare.

"That is not going to happen," at his harsh tone and words the girl started to interrupt citing claims of being trustworthy yet he continued over her exclamations "We will obviously get nowhere like this." He concluded before he let his hands shape themselves into familiar signs.

She started struggling against the bonds at her wrists and he could hear the wooden chair groaning from the exertion. "No, please just listen to me, just trust me. You can't do this." She begged him, voice rising in volume as he finished the final symbol. He heeded her no mind as he calmly finished the interrogation technique.

"Saiko Denshin no jutsu"

Her mind was oddly dark, an empty void of space that held secrets within its shadowy corners.

He shifted through her memories, not yet viewing anything yet, looking (more like sensing) for the ones that she was trying to hide the most. He quickly sensed it, a memory being pulled deep within the recesses of her mind, enclosed so tight it felt as if there were mental chains holding it shut. He reached towards it when he suddenly felt a presence.

"You don't want to do that" a shockingly loud voice called from his left, the sound bouncing around and echoing off the unseen walls. He turned to face the owner and was met with a faint white outlined form against the blackness of his victims mindscape. He easily recognized her as a monochrome version of the kunoichi who claimed to be Sakura Haruno.

His eyebrow perked up just the smallest bit, "Bloodline?" he watched as the figure gave a simple nonchalant shrug of her shoulders.

He didn’t fear the mental guardian, if it was some secret jutsu that wished him harm something would have happened already. He was also confident in his clan's abilities and had yet to be thwarted in his mental searches.

"Something like that," she retorted back casually, she called to him again as he began to once more reach for the memory. "I'm serious, not that one." He ignored her almost teasing warning and continued to work at the mental bindings, he felt a non-physical click as the memory was suddenly open for him to see.

He looked out from her eyes, watched as if he were her and not a passenger along for the ride, and saw a field of death. Around two dozen bodies littered a surprisingly intact landscape and he felt his vessel move quickly as if looking for someone in particular while background voices assessed the status of the figures. She choked back a sob as a single form came into view and he felt her drop to her knees before it. Pale blonde hair spread among a young woman's form like some macabre halo as pupil-less blue eyes gazed unseeingly into a gray sky. He glanced towards her forehead protector and noticed that it had the same symbol for "Shinobi" that his container had. He braced himself, slightly thankful that he could see anything within his subject's vision and not just what she was focusing on, and looked towards the name embroidered onto the dead kunoichis vest. 'Yamanaka' stood out amidst the mud and blood and he felt his blood run cold, his clan was not the largest so he knew everyone within it and yet he could not recognize the unknown woman.

He forced himself to pay attention to the surrounding noises as Sakura broke down over his unnaturally pale clanswomen. He could hear medical jargon rattled off between what he presumed to be the med-nins as they pronounced someone named 'Akamichi' deceased and felt himself spiral down into confusion. "Haruno-san!" his field of view suddenly changed as he felt her whip around to the voice "We got a live one" suddenly his body was running towards another prone shinobi.

This figure was propped up against a tree with a decapitated corpse next to him, a forgotten blade lying between the two. His features were drawn in exhaustion and even then he reminded Inoichi of his intelligent teammate so much that his heart skipped a beat. He was wounded, not fatally so but enough to render him nearly immobile and looking towards him, Sakura, with such despair. Hands glowed a soothing green as they started roaming his body and he gestured with a flick of a wrist towards the headless body. "I got him Sakura, I got him." Inoichi could feel her lips pull back into a watery smile in return as she continued to heal the dark haired man.

He felt the memory fade, pulled out by the odd outlined figure he met before. As soon as he was back to the inky blackness of his captive's mindscape he whirled towards her, eyes hardening in near rage. "Who was she?" the inner Sakura merely shook her head sadly and pointed towards another memory, silently urging him towards it.

This one was different, it was sunny outside and he could tell he was smaller, with the thin limbs and lightness of a child. He felt her giggle and skip along until she stopped before a building, looking around he noticed that it was the very same florist shop he was scheduled to look at later in the day, only instead of empty it was filled with vibrant flowers and wonderful floral notes wafted from the open door. A small girl gave a happy cry of "Sakura" and ran from inside the shop and he felt his breath catch. A child around eight turned the corner and she was obviously the younger version of the woman from the last memory. Her face was split by a happy grin as she skid to a stop in front of him. "It's about time you got here, come on it's almost closing time" he felt her grab his vessel's hand and drag her inside the beautiful if not slightly humid shop.

"Ino?" he felt frozen, that was the name he and his wife had chosen if they were to ever have a girl, he could remember the discussion over a small table as he tried to convince her that Inojin, after his father, would be a perfect name for a girl as well as a boy. He almost felt reality shatter around him as the owner of the voice came into view. His still new-to-him wife looked as beautiful as ever and he teared up as the small blonde girl ran into her arms for a hug.

Today had started out as such a wonderful day too.

-xxxxx-

Sakura shifted in her seat 'out of discomfort not fear' she told herself and rubbed her wrists with calming green energies. She was thankful that Inoichi had removed the chakra binding leather cuffs and had replaced them with loose metal ones instead, for appearances sake. Smoke swirled about in ephemeral shapes as the Hokage leveled a steely gaze at her, he had pulled out his pipe and tobacco around halfway through her story after the Yamanaka had assured him that she was speaking truth.

"How?" His voice was gravelly with age even though he was less wrinkled than he was when she was a genin and she felt a little guilty that perhaps she may be adding stress lines to him with each word.

"Honestly I'm not sure. The enemy had been using a lot of techniques that had to be bending space and time. Attacks that should have hit him would glide right through as if he were a ghost. I had used the Hiraishin in an attempt to save a comrade." At the incredulous look from the old man she sighed and slowly lifted her shirt gently tapping the tattoo that was spread along her side, the lines long healed and no longer the angry red they once were. "It's a modification of Namikaze-sans. I obviously don't have the chakra to go flashing around like he does and this one is tied to only one object. I infused chakra into the ink I used and continued to store some in the seal itself. It was only a one time use thing, a suicide technique if you will" Well it would have been suicide if the clash hadn't sent her spiraling throughout time and space itself.

Although when she thought back to it she felt that the battle may have been near where the cloud border once was, she may have not traveled any grand distance after all.

"Impressive." The Hokage muttered while she tried to ignore the pitying look in both of the men's eyes. She had spent hours during the war working on it, studying the scrolls left behind to Naruto and using her above average intelligence to suss out the details that she would need to change to make it work for her. She remembered with painful clarity the first time she had attempted the unaltered jutsu, and could still recall each and every tearful word that Shizune yelled at her as she worked diligently to patch up Sakura's twisted internal organs. She knew deep down that she had the control to pull off the famous technique but needed something to circumvent her less than stellar chakra levels, something she had overcome before with the Yin seal proudly emblazoned on her forehead, which led to the bastardized seal permanently inscribed into her side.

She mentally shook herself from her internal train of thought and took a deep breath before continuing, "Anyway I think that due to the combined nature of the two Justus it created some sort of temporal fold. Now I'm here." She finished lamely with a defeated shrug wishing she had some other explanation other than the one that currently held the position of Occam's razor.

Sarutobi leaned forwards slowly and gently set down his pipe before settling back with his arms crossed in front of him. "Why tell me this? Why put yourself through interrogation and possible imprisonment for being a spy?"

She gave a quick grimace, she had known that it was a gamble but she honestly had no other choice."I need your help and I'm an awful liar. I knew I couldn't come up with some plausible tale and still get cooperation"

The look of pity was back with full force as he gently steeped his fingers together. She tried her hardest to not get angered at the look from the old man, she knew he was always a bit of a bleeding heart. "I'm sorry then. I really am, but I think it may be impossible to return you to your proper time."

Sakura knew that very well, she wasn't praised for her intelligence for nothing, in fact she had spent most of the journey home thinking and making plans. That didn't stop the ache in her chest though when he so bluntly laid the verdict on the table. Instead of letting the already known news affect her she stood to attention, shoulders back and steely determination glinting in her jade orbs and silently said goodbye to her dearest teammate. "You misunderstood me, Hokage-sama. I don't want to go home. There is nothing left for me there. I need your help in preventing that future from happening. I'm going to change it."

Hiruzen Sarutobi Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure seemed to age before her eyes as he motioned for both her and Inoichi to sit down, he had obviously decided to help and Sakura knew that with his assistance many things would change. They didn't call him The Professor for nothing. "Very well then Haruno-san, please tell me everything."

And so she began her tale.

Chapter Text

But See How Deep The Bullet Lies

-xxxxx-

"Do you think he'll believe you if you tell him?" The girl with cornflower eyes asked, not unkindly, looking sadly at her female counterpart as they sat on a broken log beside a dying fire. She watched as the girl (no, she mentally corrected, woman) languidly looked from her still too full plate and stared into the embers as smoke and wind slowly shifted her pink locks. Beryl eyes, eyes that now were so dulled by strife locked with her own and she was momentarily taken aback by the sheer melancholy held within them.

"No Ino, I don't think he will."

It was spoken softly, words floating on the wind, but with such a resolute finality that the blonde felt them rumble through her bones. 

-xxxxx-

Her father used to regale stories to her in the dark of night, his voice quiet yet almost bouncing off the walls of her room making everything seem more epic and grand than it would be otherwise. He was a wonderful storyteller, he knew the perfect moment to pitch his voice just right or the best spot to take a pregnant pause to let the tension build. It was probably because of his soft enthusiasm that she drank in every word he spilled and committed them to memory. She could remember tales with both heroes and heroines alike, ones where the samurai in beautifully created armor would need to be rescued by the once-thought delicate princess or ones where the shinobi clothed in darkness would repel him and his lady love down a building to avoid detection.

He wanted her to know she could be anything she wished, that females could in fact be powerful within their own right, could be the heroes, but also instilling the knowledge that she could be saved as well, that it didn't make her any less of a person to accept help. His stories were wonderful lessons that he would weave into the quiet air of her room at bedtime, always full of adventure and heroism. They never bored her, there was never a dull moment and because of that she glared down at the scrolls before her.

The logistical side to being a heroine was turning out to be quite the drag.

Sakura jotted down another date range after cross referencing the large expanded calendar at her side. While she took pride in her memory it was nowhere near eidetic enough to memorize dates that she had only caught in passing while organizing the old storage rooms. She gave a drawn out sigh and leaned back in her chair working her fingers through wet locks tempting them to dry faster. After her exhaustingly long discussion with the Hokage she had been led to a diplomat's suite where she promptly discarded her thoroughly disgusting clothes and set out to enjoy a wonderfully long shower. She could never bring herself to repeat the overly girly squeal of delight that had escaped her when she had exited the steaming bathroom to find a standard blue uniform waiting for her, minus the flak jacket of course. Clean clothing and running  indoor plumbing was something that she had long since had the privilege of using.  She winced when her wandering fingers hit a snag in her hair and decided to abandon the effort. Leaning forward once again she searched through the calendar before finding a certain date. 

One year. She had roughly one year before the attack.

A knock sounded. The sharp rap of knuckles against wood echoed throughout her temporary residence and startled her out of her contemplative silence. She mentally chided herself for allowing her mind to wander to a point that she could be surprised before quickly going over and opening the heavy door.

A shock of silver (never to be called gray) hair and a single dark eye greeted her vision before she felt her eyes drawn to the fresh bandages that covered where the other eye should have been. "Hatake-san" she felt her lips twist oddly around the words, wished whole heartedly she could instead call out 'Kakashi-sensei' as she used to. "Come on in, is there something you needed?"

The surly teen stalked slowly past the threshold before leveling her with an inquisitive look. "I don't know you." She nodded in the affirmative before allowing him to continue. "Why did you call me Sensei when we first met?"

'Shit' she felt her entire being stiffen for the smallest fraction of a moment before forcing her muscles to adapt a loose non-defensive stance hoping her face hadn't betrayed her momentary panic. She forced a sheepish chuckle before answering. "Caught that did you?" his single eye caught hers in an accusatory glare. "You look an awful lot like your father," she shrugged at the comment, inwardly apologizing because she knew how much he truly hated that statement.

He cut her off in anger before she could continue "I know that! Everyone knows that. What does that have to do with anything?" she physically flinched at the angst coming from the young teen. Sure he had been rather cold and non-responsive towards her on the trip back to Konoha but this was the first time she could truly feel that he was nothing like the sensei she grew to care for so much.

She took a deep breath before continuing, waging war with herself about whether or not she should continue this farce she had started. "Sakumo Hatake was my sensei for a time," the lie won out. "I was very young and it wasn't for long but long enough that I could certainly remember what he looked like." As she finished she turned and attempted to nonchalantly gather the scrolls she had been writing in, sure they had been in code but shinobi could never be too cautious. Done gathering scrolls she turned towards her former sensei expectantly, collected and prepared for anymore verbal attacks.

The scene before her was unexpected. All the fire and rage had left the boy and in his place stood a young man with a carefully constructed mask of cool indifference. The gaze that only moments ago had betrayed his true inner turmoil now only held calculated hostility. "You're lying." He started, calmly yet with confidence resembling the battle hardened shinobi she knew. "You lied to Minato-sensei as well. I'm sure you even lied to the interrogators and I know you lied to the Hokage. I don't know what you are hiding and I don't know what you did to make everyone trust you but know this, I will find out" he disappeared in a small poof of smoke as he finished leaving her staring at the spot he had just vacated.

She gave a long sigh and sat back at the table intent on finishing up her preliminary work. As shaking hands fought to unroll the scrolls she tried to even her suddenly unsteady breath. After several unsuccessful attempts she gave up and instead dropped her head into her trembling hands and let the tears that had been rising loose. Quiet sobs lingered in the room as her shoulders quaked with the onslaught of emotions. He was so young, so cold and different. She knew of his past, how the mission she just inadvertently saved had forever changed his young psyche, yet she had never known how aloof and frigid he was before. Her heart gave a momentary stop when she understood what she had done with one single act and hoped beyond hope that now that the Uchiha was still alive and in her former sensei's life he could find a way to melt the barrier that he had built up around him and turn into the great man she knew at the end.

A twisting thought wormed its way in as her tears seemed to slow, reminding her of the one thing in the past she had already changed. A great shuddering breath left her as she remembered her mission, the work she was doing only moments before the encounter that had left her in tears. Everything around her suddenly felt vividly dissimilar, the villagers outside more cautious and on edge as she remembered this was not her time, nor her home. This was a village reeling from a war, and she knew that not only would the landscape be different so would the people. No one knew who she was, she had no allies aside from the tentative truce she held with the Hokage and Inoichi and even then that was based upon them believing her.

She had no mother to comfort her when things were too confusing or hard, no father to tell her some tale that would end in victory and boost her spirits. She had no friends to distract her, to lift her up and support her. She had no team, no sensei, and no Shishou.

Most of all she had no Naruto.

Strange as it may be it was only then, then when her brain finally registered the loss of that great shining light in her life that she felt her breath leave her in one hushed gasp before she finally succumbed to the enormity of the situation and wept.

-xxxxx-

The fourth great shinobi war was supposed to be relatively quick. It was a joining of all the great nations to protect their world against a common enemy. Thousands of shinobi all at their prime all giving everything, even their life, for a greater good. 

How foolish they were. 

In the bitter twilight of the first night after the all-out battle started they mourned both their dead and the previously dead that they were forced to defeat. Emotions were running in two polar opposites as some seemed elated at the supposed victory while others were in fragile states of melancholy, all were just glad to have a moment's rest after the intense battles of the day. That fateful day was the only one in which the Allied Shinobi forces stood together against a singular enemy.

It wasn't until the dawn of the new day that they would understand the true motives of the masked man when he had retreated the night before. The rising of the sun brought messengers from each of the hidden villages with horrifying news of homes being burned to the ground, civilians slaughtered in their sleep by rogue nin, and utter devastation. The united forces were in shock. Each shinobi had left home, had marched off to fight an unknown enemy to defend and protect their villages from the very thing that they had unwittingly let in with their absence.

As the shinobi of each nation returned home to pick up the shattered pieces their enemy gathered his forces, first starting with traitors and rogue ninja from across all the lands. Soon he moved on to the smaller villages, good men and women who were forced to join his fight for fear of their loved ones' lives. His reach was great and his power was awe inspiring and soon any unaligned village was in his grasp. With their villages razed to the ground and guerrilla tactics the Allied forces found themselves at a disadvantage despite the larger numbers they held.

Days turned to weeks and weeks to months and soon the war that was supposed to be an all-out battle front against one man became a true great shinobi war.

A bloody senseless war that claimed far too many lives.

-xxxxx-

Retirement was going to have to wait. 

A long suffering sigh rushed past his lips as he deflated, weary and aging bones slumping in premature defeat. Hearing the misplaced kunoichi's outline of the kyuubi attack had been one thing, but seeing her surprisingly detailed notes and timeline for the future was another horror entirely. He looked towards the aforementioned woman taking in her battled hardened eyes, ones shared by so many Shinobi, and found himself believing every word on the scroll.

"Are you positive that Orochimaru doesn't steal the jutsu until he leaves the village?" He queried, heart sinking with the knowledge of what his student would one day do. Hiruzen felt a small flicker of hope die when the woman in front of him shook her head 'no' she wasn't sure. "Inoichi go retrieve the forbidden scroll at once. Do not let anyone else handle it." His command was given grimly, at least he could hope that they could burn off the horrid jutsu that was his former predecessor's creation. As soon as the blond left the room he quickly replaced the seal of silence on the doors, so that not even his guards could listen in.

The blond Yamanaka left quickly with a stubborn set of his shoulders seen on many shinobi when they receive a mission. He felt a glimmer of calm in knowing that one of his most trusted was on the case. "Hokage-sama," his pink haired companion started, in a voice so timid and downtrodden that the calm was suddenly replaced by trepidation "Has the medical ninja named Dan been killed in action yet?" He could see a hopeful gleam in her eyes as she asked the question and felt the sting of it personally.

"Unfortunately yes, only a week ago in fact. Tsunade has already made plans to leave the village now that the Treaty has been signed." He watched her sink inwards at the answer as a lone tear fell from her eye and she whispered what seemed to be 'too late' to herself. "May I ask how you came to know of him?" he asked kindly, at least in a way that tempered the steely undertones that always came out when anything involved his former students.

"Tsunade-sama was my mentor," The pinkette before him started, "she spoke fondly of him. I guess it was too naive to hope that I could save everyone," she stopped and he let the moment hang as he noticed the distracted gleam in her eyes. One he knew so very well that was a sure sign of someone re-living a painful moment.

"Sakura," he felt himself start, almost before he had even really considered he wanted the truth. "You said she died," he paused, making sure he had her attention fully before proceeding. "How?" The question lingered in the air threatening to pull the poor girl back down into those horrible memories she had just escaped and he felt himself ache for her.

She was quiet at first, he watched as she fought for a way to start, searching for the right words and he felt horrid and curious and as taut as a band waiting for the answer.

"She died the way she lived." His brow furrowed as he waved her on to continue. "She was helping in the medic tents one night, she shouldn't have been, but no one told her what to do. A boy was brought in, Konohamaru," he felt his lips twinge in a smile at the name. It was one he and his wife had thought about before naming his second son Asuma. "He was only a Genin, and he wasn't even supposed to be on the battlefield but he was one of the only survivors from the village and had nowhere else to go. He was helping hand out meals to one of the units when they were ambushed," he watched as she sniffled, allowing her to take her time with a painful memory.

"I was working on some Jounin I never knew, elbow deep in the middle of his chest doing something I can't even remember now. All I remember was Konohamaru's face, it was so white and sallow and there was blood everywhere, he had this gaping stomach wound. The kind you know is irreparable with a glance, one of those moments when you grieve right away because you know they are soon to die" Hiruzen felt his insides clench, knowing before she finished her tale what had happened yet let her continue anyway, let her release the heavy weight drenched over her shoulders.

"The tent went silent, he was the youngest casualty since the village had been destroyed, and it was like a loss of hope. Then Tsunade came storming over," Sakura took a pause then and he looked on as a small quirk of her mouth gave way to a bubble of tearful laughter. "She was so furious, not at what had happened but because we had all just kind of stopped, and you should have seen it she only had one ponytail, the other had broken free and was whipping around her head as she commanded us around. She decided that he was her patient, leaving this poor Jounin to stitch up his own leg, and ripped a tent pole out of the ground in her rush to get him moved to the back." All signs of laughter were gone now, he watched on with rapt attention as only the tears remained.

"It was a rough night for all of us, the ambush had left many grievously injured and we were all mostly out of chakra so it was mostly triage and slow healing. We worked all through the night and it wasn't until early morning that the steady stream of wounded stopped. It was only then that I realized I hadn't seen her the rest of the night. I remember walking to the back, to pay my respects to the boy, who we were all so sure had passed in the night when instead I saw her kneeling over top of him. Her hair was free and splayed all out, some sticking to her face and when I went to shake her awake she was so cold. She looked old, older than I had seen in a long time and I remember the moment that I realized the gentle rise and fall of her shoulders wasn't because of her breathing it was because of her rising and falling with every breath Konohamaru took." Sakura gave a quivering sigh, the tears now drying leaving only tracks behind.

"She had simply given her all, continuing to heal him until all of her chakra had been depleted and then some, sacrificing herself for the younger generation." She concluded as both he and Sakura stiffened and looked towards the door, sensing the chakra approaching from the outer hallway. He used the momentary distraction to attempt to gather his thoughts and recover from the tale she had woven. If he hadn't believed her before he would now, as she spoke of Tsunade with such confidence and in a way that could never be anything but truth.

Inoichi entered the room swiftly, replacing the seal of silence that broke when he opened the door, before handing over a large and ornate scroll. "I couldn't see any signs of tampering, but we both know that he wouldn't leave any." The blond stated, glancing towards the drying tear tracks on the kunoichis face and choosing not to comment. Hiruzen noticed him shift slightly towards the girl in a near fatherly fashion but held himself back moments later. Turning his attention back to the absurdly large scroll he found the spot he was looking for before uttering a small Katon jutsu before burning the section of scroll to ash.

"Now there is no use lingering over what if's, for now let us assume we have stopped any progress towards the Impure World jutsu." He started looking towards Sakura's tired and slumped form. "I think that is enough for tonight, we will meet tomorrow and go over some more of these incidents but for now I think we should go over your cover story." He watched as her apple green eyes locked onto his, surprised and still slightly lingering in the future, or past as it may be.

"I hadn't thought of one Hokage-sama," she began, and he had assumed as much. "I'm not good at deception so I wasn't really thinking this far. I was mostly worried about getting you the information on the Kyuubi attack and the war."

"Well I believe that it would be prudent to keep you around in case any new information comes about. I also believe that with a promising new student and a few favors I could convince Tsunade to remain in this village." He watched her smile then, a new life coming into her eyes at his words. "Of course we will have to remain with the mission details you gave to Namikaze-san yesterday, but I'm sure with enough paperwork I could make it believable."

"Inoichi," he paused, watching the man's attention snap to him "I'll need you to work on arrangements for an apartment and paperwork for a work transfer to the hospital. I assume working as a medic again will be alright with you?" he looked towards her, watched as her pink locks bounced about as she nodded enthusiastically. "Very well, Inoichi will lead you back to the diplomat's quarters for the night. We will see you tomorrow Sakura Haruno, Jounin of Konohagakure." He concluded, watching her rise and give him a deep bow of appreciation, and gave her a small nod in return as both shinobi left the room, one feeling lighter at new prospects and one looking grim at the thought of more paperwork.

Once the door latched shut Hiruzen felt his shoulders slump, the weight now a palpable feeling upon his form. He slid his fingers together, leaning forward into a position of thought before fidgeting and running his hands through his short hair, glad for once that he was already going gray because he was sure to have several more hairs to add to the collection of silver strands from the conversation today. He shuffled around papers listlessly for a few moments, unable to fully focus on anything at hand before he gave a huff and pulled his lowermost desk drawer with a bang. Pulling out a false bottom he reached further into the drawer and grabbed a hidden sake bottle as well as a sake set. After pouring out two small cups of the top shelf liquor he toasted to his only female student, mourning her as if she were dead in the present and not this strange future he had learned about today. Downing his small cupful quickly he relished the distraction the burn provided as it slid down his throat.

'Tonight,' he decided 'tonight is a good night to spend late at the office' with that final decision made Hiruzen Sarutobi finished his bottle of sake in silence before enjoying a nice long smoke.

-xxxxx-

She walked with Inoichi in a strangely companionable silence back to her temporary quarters. It was odd, although he was taller than her, not by much just a noticeable amount, she still felt as if he loomed over her, an impressive yet kind figure she knew as a child. It was so very challenging to associate this man with anything other than the father of her best friend, yet she tried, she had attempted to make small talk before yet everything came out stilted and awkward without the buffer of Ino between the two of them. It didn't help that she could feel a nervous energy constantly leaking out from him, not one that spoke of discomfort but more of him holding back from jumping at her with a barrage of questions about his and his family's future. He paused in his trek and she steeled herself thinking that this was when his curiosity would finally tumble forth unfettered.

"Sakura," he began, laying a comforting hand on her rigid shoulder, "If you don't think you are ready to work in the hospital we will all understand. Yesterday after our meeting my wife, Midori, and I put down a payment on a flower shop. I'm sure that we will need help around the store at some point, and I know Midori would just love you. She would tell you that you were as colorful as her blossoms." The words tumbled out and Sakura felt herself take a sharp inhale of breath, remembering vividly when Ino's mother had in fact gone on about how she was as colorful as the flowers in the shop one day.

She gave him a grateful smile, "Thank you Yamanaka-san, but I feel that I can help the most at the hospital, I'm sure there will be plenty of wounded from the war." She wasn't sure if she could handle it though, she didn't know what memories it would coax up from the earlier days of the war, when there were enough of them to actually have a medical core, to actually have designated tents with medics who did nothing but heal. Back before everyday became a fight for survival, a fight to find food and shelter.

The Yamanaka spoke up again as they reached the door, "Call me Inoichi, after all I'm sure we will be seeing a lot of each other in the coming weeks." He said with an infectious grin. "Anyways I'll pick you up around noon tomorrow to go look for a more permanent place, the Hokage is giving you a stipend until we get you settled into a position long enough for you to bring in some money of your own." With that he gave her a friendly if slightly awkward pat on the head, still testing the waters of the odd friendship before leaving back down the long empty hallway.

Once the door was shut she trotted back over to the bed, sitting down beside another change of clothes that had been left in her absence, and let herself think for a few moments. She had backing from the Hokage, actual help and support and an ear to listen to her blather on about changing things for the better. It was a strangely freeing feeling for the monstrousness of the mission she had taken on. What's more is she had the fledgling beginnings of a plan, an actual footpath to follow and she wasn't wandering around in the dark anymore.

She also had a friend. Inoichi wasn't a replacement for her friendship with Ino, he never could be, yet she welcomed his companionship all the same. She stripped off her shoes and lay back in the too soft bed thinking that maybe she wouldn't be as alone as she thought.

Thinking that maybe this could all actually work out for the better.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: There's a Thunder in Our Hearts

-xxxxx-

The tattered fabric that once resembled a tent flap fluttered as an oddly pale hand moved to pull it back. She watched as Sai entered her tent that was once a well-kept clinic, the ex-root agent cautiously stepping around a patch of dirt that seemed to be stained crimson. Her vibrant hair was hanging over her eyes, dirt and sweat caking the strands yet she felt too drained and exhausted to move it. Instead she settled for shifting her slumped form towards the artist. "I'm sorry," he said, pausing awkwardly "I believe that is what you say in this situation"

She trembled, giving a quiet thanks, before spinning on her stool back towards the desk. The seat wasn't so much as an actual stool as it was a trunk that had been brought in and cut into a usable shape, something she had only been afforded because of her medic status. Leaning forwards she held her head in her hands, elbows propped onto the equally crude desk, and gave a great sigh. Moments before he had come into her space she had just had two Chunnin remove the body of her close friend Tenten. In the end it hadn't mattered how tirelessly she tended to the brunette; the poor working conditions and non-sterility of the tent made treating poisons a near impossible task. The weapons mistress had already been healed of visible wounds when she was brought in, the skin of her upper thigh now sporting a long scar that ran from hip to knee, yet the black treads that lead away from it and the rapidly rising fever spoke another tune.

She shook herself from her reverie turning her attention back to the man with dark eyes in front of her. "Sai, I don't mean to be rude but I'm really tired, and I don't want to talk about Tenten right now, was there something you needed?" she asked of him, fatigue dripping off every word she spoke. She felt so very powerless and small, as if she would crumble in on herself at a moment's notice. Yet in a deeper part of herself she felt utterly senseless, this hadn't been the first loss in the war. It was nothing more than another in a never-ending string of deaths that rocked the ever shrinking leaf forces. Sakura gathered herself, promising that she would mourn later in solitude, another death was sure to follow and as long as it wasn't Naruto she was certain to persevere.

He stalked over to her, ever silent as his training dictated, before dropping a tiny canister in front of her. "I brought the rest of the ink you requested, I don't have much extra that hasn't already been infused with my Chakra so it will have to be enough." He spoke emotionlessly, however she could detect the slightest hint of interest. "The jar is specially designed to transfer the chakra to the ink, just infuse however much you will need into it then it will be ready." She nodded attentively as he gave her the directions, a tiny subconscious part of her mind admiring the elegant script on the container. A pale hand reached in front of her, grabbing the carelessly left paper lying just to the right of where he had dropped the ink.

"This is the same symbol you stitched into Dickless's coat." He started leveling a dark eye at her. "Hag…Sakura I know a seal when I see one. I have kept silent about how I feel but I know what something dangerous looks like. Will you tell me what you are doing so that I can help?" he paused before continuing tentatively "That is what a team does right?"

She found herself smiling despite the melancholy atmosphere of the camp. "Yeah Sai, that is what a team does," She stated giving him a gentle pat on the arm as encouragement. "And I'll tell you all about it some other time, but right now it is just an experiment." She concluded before shoo-ing him out the door so that she could finally get some much needed rest.

Sakura never kept her promise to him.

In fact she never saw him alive again.

-xxxxx-

Showers, Sakura decided, were a gift from Kami themself. After years of living out of tents she found herself showering more than once a day, leisurely taking all of the hot water and making up for lost time. They, along with the clean clothes that kept getting dropped off by ANBU, had to be one of the few things that kept Sakura slightly grounded. Kept reminding her that she wasn't hallucinating on the battlefield.

She was exiting the bathroom after her shower when a knock came at her door, well a knock was being charitable. The sound more resembled a small battering ram attempting to kick the wood from its hinges. The part of her brain that still believed itself to be on the battlefield bristled, fingers clenching into fists with a small blue glow dancing across her knuckles and her chakra slithering along the ground to feel for who could be on the other side.

The chakra was familiar and so very angry, a feeling she knew so acutely well that she found herself running to the door and ripping it open, breath hitching and holding herself back from wrapping the woman beyond the threshold into her arms. Honeyed eyes glared and tore her down as Sakura stood there, letting a small puddle form from her wet hair. The calculating gaze finally lingered on the amethyst rhombus that was emblazoned on the pinkette’s forehead, one that so closely mirrored her own.

"I guess the old man isn't crazy after all," the words were snarled and slightly slurred in a way that led Sakura to believe that her alcohol tolerance wasn't quite what she was used to. Sakura blanched, this Tsunade Senju was so visually familiar yet filled with hate and vitriol that had been tempered over time. "Follow me," the blonde commanded harshly before stalking back down the empty hallway as Sakura rushed to slip on her sandals falling so easily back into the role of a student that it seemed time hadn't passed at all.

As they trekked through the village in the mid-morning sun she took a chance to really observe her former mentor, her illusion of youth keeping her looks virtually unchanged from when she knew the woman, however subtle differences lingered, screaming to her medic side that she was stressed. The long blonde locks that Sakura always felt envious of showed signs of breakage and brittleness, as if she had suffered malnutrition, something she was sure her own pink strands revealed as well, and the illusion couldn't quite cover the dark bags that sagged underneath her honey eyes, eyes that lacked the warmth that Sakura knew so well.

"Tsunade-sama," the honorific slipped out, a relic of a time long passed, as Sakura attempted to break the chilly and awkward silence. The Senju in front of her stopped and whipped around so violently she left small cracks in the pavement where she stood.

"Don't." Tsunade started, spitting such venom that Sakura felt the need to hide. "Never call me that. I don't know what sort of nonsense got into me but I would never be as foolhardy as to accept a position where the mere ambition was a death sentence" She turned back around leading the way once more and giving a nearly patronizing wave to the younger woman to follow, the rage slowly leaving her tense shoulders. "Not to mention you will give away your alibi in a heartbeat if anyone with half a decent I.Q. were to hear you. No, you need to refer to me as shishou or sensei, I don't care for either so it is your choice really, but only if you can prove to me you deserve it." With her final words she stopped and Sakura got a good look at where her former, well suddenly not so former, teacher had led her.

The training grounds looked smaller than what she was used to, which only made sense as she remembered them being part of the large area decimated by the Kyuubi attack. They were the only two there, something that would normally be odd but she had an inkling that the Hokage might have had a thing or two to do with it. "A spar?" Sakura asked, barely hiding the excitement in her voice. At the blonde's nod of confirmation she let the delight bubble forth as a wide smile nearly split her face in twain. Oh she hadn't had a spar in years, and even longer since having one with her mentor. In times of war a friendly fight was a luxury that no one could afford, too devastated by the very real battle for their lives they dealt with every day. Too stretched thin to spare the effort on something for entertainment.

As she walked a fair distance from the older woman she longed for her soft leather gloves, yet sadly both those and her armored boots had never been returned since the day she arrived in Konoha and found the basic military blues waiting for her. Instead she simply settled for giving both sets of knuckles a good crack and relaxing into a combat ready position. "I want to see what you know, so don't you dare hold back on me." Tsunade called across the clearing while she removed her green outer coat and tossed it behind her, mindless of where it may land.

Knowing that while she had no chance of beating the golden haired woman in her prime Sakura promised herself she would enjoy every moment of this fight. The two of them stood ready, both studying the other waiting for the first strike, as the wind gently blew through the quiet training ground. Sakura almost felt sorry for the earth users who would be commissioned to have to fix the clearing as she knew the destruction would be impressive. It was an eerie calm before the storm.

"I wouldn't dream of it Shishou" she replied back with a smirk, she gave her fist one last flex flooding the chakra pathways with such tightly wound chakra that they nearly glowed blue, before dashing towards the Senju. They were the same speed, hitting each other's fist at the same time and an utter cacophony of noise followed from the shockwave that ensued. Trees were nearly ripped from their roots and the flaps of wings filled the air as all birds in the vicinity quickly evacuated. They both leapt backwards and Sakura drank in the look of mild shock and admiration the Tsunade graced her with. The barest glint of pride flashed through amber eyes and Sakura reveled in the feeling. 

The pause was brief, both women moving at the slightest twitch of the other, before the two engaged in a taijutsu battle that caused such a clamor that Sakura was sure patrols should be on their way soon. Each punch was dodged, each kick met with a diffusion of force that nearly nullified the monstrous strength that they both contained. 

Where one woman hit the other bent out of the way, leaving only glancing blows and near misses. The fight was turning more into an impressively choreographed dance that was known down to the bones. 

Due to the nature of the style that Sakura learned the battle wasn't flashy, not at the moment at least, something that could easily be followed with the human eyes. They both preferred to use their brute force over speed and as such most shinobi would likely underestimate them. Yet to the two it was still a flurry of moments as the battle became all encompassing. The pinkette could not contain the smile that slid across her face, a look of utter delight at something that was such visceral normality of her old life. She was a fifteen year old sparring with her mentor again, dodging rocks and feet, laughing in delight and relishing every close hit. Happiness flooded her unbidden at the familiarity and she couldn't help the frantic pace of her heart.

She was lost to the rhythm, happiness and idyllic memories causing her to become sloppy, when she felt a wave of force ripping into her left hip. She had made the slightest miscalculation and earned herself a view of the sky as she suddenly went airborne from the force of the kick. Sakura struggled to right herself, instead settling for using her momentum to roll and push off of the tree she was quickly heading towards and forcing herself into a divebomb. Bark breaking and limbs bowing from the force.

The earth rippled as Sakura's fist impacted the earth, the blonde having dodged a particularly powerful chakra enforced punch by twisting in a way that her impressive bosom should not have allowed and jumping high into the air. Sakura in turn quickly threw herself to the left, rolling along the ground as a nasty heel drop shattered the ground where she once was.

Changing tactics she swiftly diverted chakra to the soles of her feet as she ran across the now jagged landscape back towards the now scarred tree.

Giving the sannin a quick grin she gave a mighty heave and ripped the tree from the ground before tossing it towards her as if it were a mere garden shrub. Using the fraction of a second where she would be obscured by the flying foliage Sakura replaced herself with a clone, before jumping up and attaching her feet to the tree. Knowing that the blond had a tendency to dodge upwards, Sakura made sure to stay hidden within the shadow of the tree until the moment before it would have struck the woman. She leapt up swinging one glowing fist in a wide arc and sending an unsuspecting Tsunade tumbling away from an impact to the shoulder.

Cheering erupted from the sidelines as Sakura cursed herself for not realizing that shinobi had been attracted to the noise of fighting. Her intense concentration and quickly developing comfort in the village had dulled her battle senses. She almost instinctively looked at the smattering of ninja attempting to find a face or two she might recognize, her leafy green eyes locking onto the spikes of golden hair that was so similar her body yearned to run to him. Pain blossomed along her ribs as her momentary lapse in attention earned her a swift kick to the side. She felt bones crunch and gravity take over as she jumped away, her light panting turning to heavy wheezing.

Promptly switching the nature of her chakra to that of the healing variety she pressed a brightly glowing green hand to the injured side, eyes hardened by determination staring holes into a pair of honeyed eyes that displayed both satisfaction and amusement. "Sakura," she felt her stance shift from protective and combat ready to one of relaxation at the tone in her shishou's voice "I think we have given them enough of a show for now." Sakura found herself nodding in agreement before a beaming smile split her face, despite all of her years studying under the legendary woman she had never been able to fight her on quite so even ground and she felt accomplished in a way she had never known before.

"We should go talk somewhere quieter" Tsunade stated, quickly retrieving her overcoat and Sakura found herself following the busty woman back towards the village. She vaguely registered the shouting voice of a young Might Gai challenging an equally young Kakashi, who now sported his headband pulled down over his missing eye despite the bandages still poking out underneath, to a spar.

The tense atmosphere from before had cooled into one of quiet comfort, Sakura following her mentor along silently as if time had not passed. Happy villagers waved and gave shouts of greetings to the blonde as they went down roads and alleyways that looked familiar yet just different enough to leave Sakura confused. She felt as if she were looking at a painting she knew so well only to finally realize that it had been mirrored. 'It's odd' she mused to herself, 'I always forget that shishou was famous for more than sucking at gambling before she became the Hokage'.

Soon enough she found herself following Tsunade up a short staircase into an apartment building that she was sure didn't exist in her time. It was a rather nice building, one that obviously cost a bit to maintain with pale neutral tones and wide clean hallways. 'Must have been destroyed in the attack' she thought to herself somberly, a tiny childish portion of her mind put out that it wasn't around when she was looking for apartments. As they entered the sannins personal home Sakura was eerily reminded that the woman was due to leave the village. The place was bare, what little personal effects Tsunade intended on traveling with were stacked neatly in a corner near a backpack and sealing scroll.

"Tsunade-sama", Sakura started flinching slightly at the look the other woman gave her for the title "Now that we are alone can I ask you a question?" Blonde pigtails bounced in agreement as Sakura leaned awkwardly against the countertop that led to a pass-through kitchen. "Why did you ask me to spar? I thought you had a phobia of blood at this point in time?" the kunoichi asked, grimacing at the rather blunt question.

"I assumed, correctly might I add, that if I had taken on an apprentice who had achieved the Yin seal I would have taught them my fighting technique. Since we both use a combat style that emphasizes breaking bones and bruises there was an unlikely chance of blood." Tsunade answered walking over and folding her legs beneath her to busy herself with the small pile of belongings. Sakura felt mild exasperation with herself for not coming to that conclusion on her own. What good did an analytical mind do when she simply didn't think to use it?

The future Hokage proudly produced a plain sake set from her gear, one that looked simple yet elegant and Sakura easily recognized it as the worn and well-loved set that Tsunade had used in her time. She recalled a slightly hazy memory of a night filled with one too many cups of the liquor that the blonde mentioned it had belonged to Dan. Sakura felt a stab of sympathy for the woman who was now digging around for a bottle of the clear spirit, having forgotten with the early morning excitement from the spar just how much emotional pain she must be in.

"I've decided that there would be no other explanation for your certain set of skills so I'll have to claim you as an apprentice." Tsunade started and the green eyed girl felt a lightness in her heart at the news. "Sarutobi has decided that your alibi is that you were undercover in the enemy's medical core and that you had been my student long before the war." Sakura nodded along as the woman spoke.

"How will that explain my absence from the academy?" she found herself asking, attempting to find any flaw to fix.

The blonde gave a scoff before answering, "I don't know how different it is in the future but now we can fast track any student who shows promise in a certain area. The paperwork that the old man is working on states that you excelled in chakra control from a young age and were foisted off onto me." Sakura blinked owlishly at the blonde as she spoke. Sure she knew it had been done during the war, however she thought it rare, Itachi and Kakashi being the exception rather than the rule. However after the psychological studies had been done they decided to eliminate the process entirely requiring all students to attend the academy until twelve. That is unless you were in root which was being entirely done without the Hokage's knowledge.

"We just ended a war," Tsunade continued, "literally signed the treaty papers a few days ago, people are going to be suspicious of anyone new. The best thing we can do for you is make everything seem legitimate and that you were never really in society's eye to begin with." She punctuated the small speech by pouring herself a tiny cup of sake. “According to all reports, you will have always been in the shadows, someone who was just impressive enough to get my attention and nothing more.”

Sakura felt herself piecing together the bits of information, building up the past that she had never lived so that she could be more believable. Despite her horrid acting skills she had confidence in the man who was known as the Professor's abilities to make her life seem real in a time of distrust. "So what now?" she felt herself asking, "Do we just go to the hospital tomorrow and act as if I've belonged there the whole time?"

"We?" Tsunade gave a sharp laugh, one that sounded almost cruel. "There is no we, you were undercover two nations over remember? No one will know who you are. Tomorrow you will go to the hospital with a reference letter from me, work your way up the ladder to earn your place, and stay under the radar."

Sakura balked at the statement, rage slowly flooding her system at the implication. "Wait, you are still leaving? After everything he told you was going to happen and you are still leaving?" Sakura hissed out, attempting to keep her voice from carrying in her anger. "If the Kyuubi does attack, do you know how many people you could save? Do you know how much we need you around right now?" she finished clenching a fist at her side in an effort to contain herself. 

'Do you know how much I need you around right now?' she thought to herself.

Tsunade was in front of her in a moment, eyes flashing with so much fury Sakura felt herself wilt under the glare. "Don't assume that just because you knew me before you know who I am now," the fair-haired woman started. "Arrangements have been made and I would have left this kami-forsaken place the moment I watched the love of my life die if I could have but borders were closed. The old man has already summoned Jiraiya back to the village so your precious fox attack probably won't even happen." The wrath that flamed before slowly cooled, tempering into a sarcastic indifference as the busty woman retreated back to her bottle of liquor. "Besides I've already taken on an apprentice, one that I actually get to train, not just say I have."

"Now," Tsunade continued, "I purged my system of alcohol earlier so I could have a clear head for our fight. So if you'd kindly get out I'd like to drink enough to not feel like this again." Sakura nodded to the request silently, remaining quiet as to process the information before leaving. She took one last look at the broken woman hunched over the sake set of her dead lover before shutting the door.

Her earlier elation was gone, that smile that had been ever present on her face since stepping foot onto the training ground had melted into something else. Something unnamable. No matter how much Sakura had tricked her brain, the drunkard inside was not the kunoichi she thought of as more than her mentor. 

It was like losing her all over again. 

-xxxxx-

Her head was in her hands, shoulders quaking with every inhale, and yet he couldn't bring himself to lay a hand on that shaking frame. Naruto steeled himself, taking a deep breath and taking that last step towards her hunched form. He knew her pain well, that sharp all-encompassing ache that reeked of an era that is now over, just like how he felt when the toad sannins death was a pain that was all too new. Yet while he knew she was in emotional agony he found himself struggling for the words, because while Tsunade may have been closer to the woman in front of him, nearly a mother, he too was close to the blonde. He grimaced, how do you comfort someone when you yourself can't but help to feel hopeless as well?

He found himself plopping down on the flat jut of earth that she no doubt coaxed from the ground with her talented fist. He shifted one knee, the one that was so close to hers they nearly touched, until it gently met hers, a silent hello of sorts. Slowly, painstakingly slowly she shifted her hands away from the pink tresses and tilted her head upwards until her striking beryl eyes met his own sad blue ones. He felt his breath leave in one sharp exhale as he fully took in how devastated she looked, how fragile and unlike the strong warrior woman he knew she was.

'This is what loss does' he thought to himself. It had taken a woman so powerful she could reduce a mountain to rubble with her pinkie and reduced her to something that resembled the wreckage itself. A small quivering mess of what she once was. He cursed the unfortunate situation that had led to the death of their Hokage, even if the title was no more than a formality with no village to lead, a damned if you do damned if you don't issue that led to a great loss of hope with either outcome. Konohamaru was the future of the remnants of the village, yet Tsunade was this great shining beacon of hope and healing, one who had led the troops with such clarity, sobriety, and ferocity that they actually believed in a victory.

"Oh Naruto," she rasped, voice hoarse from grief, "I should have healed him. It should have been me." He had no verbal response, only an arm snaking around and over her small figure until it rested on the opposite arm, pulling her closer in an awkward one armed hug.

He had no words to assuage her guilt because despite his love for her, one that never ceased despite his wavering feelings the day of her false confession, he wasn't sure she was wrong.

For once he wasn't sure what to say.

‘This is what loss does to all of us’

-xxxxx-

"Unmeiko?" Sakura questioned, staring at the thick file in her hands incredulously. "Don't you think that's a little telling?" she continued looking towards the blond lounging in one of the chairs next to the table, his too long legs splayed out before him and becoming a tripping hazard.

Inoichi Yamanaka had arrived at noon sharp and upon her opening the door handed off the folder before collapsing into the aforementioned chair with a groan of satisfaction and exhaustion. "Not if you are a refugee from whirlpool." He retorted back, voice sluggish with fatigue. "Which according to the paperwork I spent all night filing you are."

She hummed at him in agreement, having reached that part of her history. "This is all very thorough, but what about Namikaze's team, and the paperwork when I was brought in? They all have my true last name." she asked, watching warily as the man draped over her furniture fought to stay awake.

He gave a great yawn before replying "That was a little tricky but we managed to work into the paperwork that it was a Mission name, since you were so deep undercover that's the only name that appeared on any paperwork. That wasn't your name for when you were undercover but I don't think that one's been documented. It's actually a pretty foolproof plan, he even had me filling everything in the correct times in the archives, and aged the paper appropriately." Inoichi gave a quick shudder and a pat at his long ponytail before continuing. "I think I may still have some cobwebs in my hair."

Sakura giggled at that, now that she wasn't viewing him as an authority figure she could really see the similarity in personalities that he and Ino shared. A thought flashed to the forefront of her mind, giving her pause. 'I think that's the first time I've truly laughed since I've been here' her mind quickly switched gears as her stomach gave a small twinge in hunger.

"Well I'll look over this but right now I'm hungry. I don't suppose you'd mind treating me to lunch?" she asked the blue-eyed man shyly, ashamed at her lack of money. He in turn languidly stood up in a way that made it seem as if he was physically peeling himself away from the cushion-y seat before tossing her a small knapsack that had been clipped to the bottom of his flak jacket.

"I would normally take you up on that offer," he started before being interrupted by another yawn. "But I was up all night helping the Hokage get you sorted and I need to go crash. Thankfully he gave me the day off." He finished as she followed him as he trekked out the door and down the hall, before giving him a small wave when they went their separate ways.

She looked into the pouch and found that the Hokage had been surprisingly generous; aside from enough coins and paper money to keep her well fed for a week or so she found a small slip of paper that looked to be a receipt from a bank account. Apparently he had made an account and a deposit that would be a payment fit for the mission she had supposedly been on. A smile crept upon her face as she wiggled her bare toes, vowing that after she found some food a replacement pair of combat knee high boots would be the first purchase on her list.

As she walked towards the city center her stomach gave another twinge in hunger, this time accompanied by an audible growl in protest now that the smells from the surrounding restaurants assaulted her senses. Looking around she couldn't find anything that seemed to fit into her cravings, her feet almost moved on their own down a path that she knew by heart and she found herself hoping beyond hope that the old man would still be in the same place.

A particular scent wafted towards her as she neared her intended destination and she felt a warmth envelope her. Her feet stopped just shy of the ramen restaurant that she knew so well from the years of being forced there by her teammate. Ichiraku was unchanged, as if by her time it had never aged at all, except for the owner was on his own and several age lines younger.

She found herself in a seat ordering a bowl of lovingly homemade noodles with a pork miso broth before she could really think, only stopping long enough to keep herself from asking him for the usual. Her wait was relatively short and once she finally had her first sip of ramen she couldn't hold back the groan of pleasure.

"It's great isn't it?" A voice startled Sakura before she quickly turned in her seat towards the owner of the voice. "Must be your first time, I don't recognize you and I'm here every day. Best ramen in town I say." The woman beside her concluded before asking the man for another bowl. Sakura nearly dropped her spoon as she took her in. Long red hair, kind gray blue eyes, and a beautiful face greeted her and Sakura froze as the information processed.

From the description Naruto had given her long ago she could only assume that she was someone even he only knew from pictures and a conversation inside his own mind.

Kushina Uzumaki, his mother.

Chapter Text

Let's Exchange the Experience

-xxxxx-

'This is a dream' she reasoned with herself. 

An altogether cruel dream but a dream nonetheless. The sky was too blue and the grass too soft between her bare toes yet she gave a great sigh of relief and leaned back onto her elbows determined to enjoy the heartbreakingly pleasant vision around her. The golden light of the afternoon lit the clearing in beautiful splendor.

Directly behind her in a position mirroring her own was Shikamaru, eyes to the sky and looking at peace with the world. Choji was beside him unpacking an impressively large picnic basket that had been no doubt provided by his mother while Ino sat to his opposite neatly braiding impossibly long corn silk hair. The strands kept glinting in the golden sunlight as Asuma was standing away from his team, casting a lengthy shadow and reaching one strong arm to wrap around the svelte Kurenai, who had a curly haired toddler sitting on her hip.

The genjutsu user's team lounged underneath a beautiful tree, Kiba leaned against his giant companion Akamaru as if he were a giant pillow and Shino was within the great leafy branches inspecting some insect. Hinata sat daintily and in a luxurious kimono, looking like the princess she might as well have been, slender fingers folding beautifully patterned paper into tiny cranes that circled her graceful form.

Off in the distance Lee and Gai danced around each other with incredibly fluid strikes while Neji and Tenten sat to the side, fingers laced together. The pale eyes of the Hyuuga gazed at the weapon mistress in a way that was contradictory to his normal stoic tendencies as she silently flung glinting projectiles towards the two men fighting. The two men dodged the kunai with unparalleled expertise sending her matching grins of gratitude.

The trio of sand siblings watched the spar from the sidelines, Gaara in particular with a look of admiration in his eyes for the speed of the battle. Temari was languidly using her fan as a prop to keep herself up as she flicked heavily lidded eyes over towards the lazy Nara and Kankuro was sitting cross-legged mindlessly tinkering with a small human shaped puppet.

Yamato was in front of her cheerily showing off by coaxing a large table of wood from the ground as Sai's inky form was seated upon an already made stool with his paintbrush making broad strokes across a large scroll, a smile upon his face that was so small and content that Sakura could only call it true.

Her heart beat a surprisingly steady rhythm as she spied the two dark haired Uchiha brothers enjoying a friendly shuriken competition in a grove to the side covered in targets. She felt a tugging sense of self satisfaction at the absence of flutters or uneven breath when she saw deep eyes glance her way.

The buxom form of her shishou led a burdened Jiraiya towards the now formed table and placed a single sake bottle down while he unloaded the box full of the liquor. Her honeyed eyes gave his cheery ones a warm glance before they sat to enjoy the spar still taking place a little ways away.

Her silver haired sensei was perched high within the branches of a tree nearby, quickly devouring a new book in his filthy series. His two eyes alight with joy as they eagerly drank in the words on the crisp pages. Beneath him a permanently teenaged Obito and Rin leaned up upon each other, supporting the other with their weight, eyes closed in gentle slumber.

Sakura pushed herself to her feet as she glanced at the brilliant coloring of the family walking up the path towards the training ground turned picnic area. A smile broke across her face as she waved towards the blond savior. Naruto returned her friendly gesture before he came to a stop at the lovely wooden table, his parents flanking him both protectively and proudly. Minato stood tall and proud, a kage jacket swaying gently in the breeze while Kushina was off to the side, her impossibly long hair fluttering as well.

The quiver that she was so happy to have remained absent when she gazed upon the lithe form of Sasuke smacked her with full force as she gazed into the unbearably blue eyes of her teammate. A grin stretched across his face as he took in the sights before him and he looked so unbelievably joyful that she felt the staccato thrum of her heart threaten to overtake her.

This was a moment of pure perfection, a sight worth being someone's last and she felt all of the words leave her being. She struggled to find the words to say, nothing could do the moment justice, this ephemeral sliver of time that had eluded them all for so long.

It was only then, when she moved towards him, that she noticed the utter silence within the clearing, a stillness echoed within her own lack of words. Though there were birds in the perfect blue sky they were soundless and all around her were friends and comrades enjoying it in perfect muteness. It was as if the eerily flawless day was waiting on her to make the first sound.

She took two great strides before she was in front of him, holding her shoulders back in defiance and gazing into his eyes with determination. She felt the wind blow her too long hair in a gentle caress as she tried to choose her words carefully.

"I'm going to make this happen," she started, as those beautiful eyes bored into her unflinchingly, cutting her deep within the furthest recesses of her weary soul. "Someday this will be real and we will have everyone we love around us. I swear it to you. It will be the promise of a lifetime." She finished her vow and looked towards him hopefully for his reply, not sure if he would speak or not, knowing this was all a product of her own making.

"Oh Sakura," the vision of Naruto in front of her started, sounding sad and condescending all at once. "How do I know this isn't another lie of yours?" The clipped beat of her heart stopped entirely as she felt the air leave her lungs in one great whoosh at his words. His once happy face was twisted into a sneer directed solely towards her, eyes tinged in an awful red.

The setting sun that once lit the beautiful vision before her dripped ever further past the skyline, now tinting the land an awful red, no longer giving everything the golden dreamy quality it once possessed. 

He started laughing, a deep booming thing that sounded monstrous to her ears as she watched the perfect day turn to ashes. Tears clouded her vision as she took in the horrific visage of her own making, a stormy barren wasteland with broken bodies littering the ground unendingly and those she knew at the very forefront of the massive field of carcasses.

Shikamaru's once calm and serene gaze towards the sky was now blank as a nearly crumpled cigarette hung from his lips and a stain bloomed across his chest. Choji's body was near him, littered with kunai and Ino's splayed form was even nearer still, pupiless eyes looking unendingly into the dark sky, a glinting ninja wire wrapped around her slim neck like a necklace with ruby drops dripping downwards. Asuma lay to the side, a crimson patch blossoming from his heart in nearly the same way as his lazy charges as Kurenai was curled inwards, arms protectively wrapped around a small and still child.

Kiba was draped over his partner, the fur of the poor hound now a sticky red and Shino's body was burned almost beyond recognition with a pair of dark sunglasses melting into his bubbling skin. Hinata was a graceful kneeling princess, a jagged short spear protruding through her pale neck holding her in a macabre position.

Gai and Lee were both a pile of bone and muscle, bodies torn apart from the inside out from the opening of too many gates. Tenten's corpse was pale and glistening with rapidly drying sweat as Neji lay protectively over her, a great hole in the center of his chest weeping gore.

Gaara was surrounded by a halo of sand with his smaller gourd shattered into pieces and his dark rimmed eyes closed for the first time in many years. Temari's sullen figure was next to him, arms still cradling her large battle fan with her head separated and a good three paces behind and Kankuro's body was as broken and awkward as his puppets without strings.

Yamato was pale, gaunt, and simply drained of all life while Sai lye next to him. A great slash bisected him from shoulder to hip and crimson tarnished his nearly parchment white skin like a great blemish upon an ink painting.

A pale corpse with silky black hair lay peacefully and she realized that though she could see the elder Uchiha the younger was nowhere to be found. He was a specter that had all but haunted her throughout the past years of her life.

Jiraiya was a wet dripping form toppled to the side like a great tree having been felled and Tsunade was a cold and wrinkled shadow of the beauty she had illusioned herself to be for so long, her strong arms draped sloppily over the white haired man next to her, blonde hair seeming almost colorless in the new gloom.

Next was Kakashi, mask still perfectly in place yet headband missing and blood streaming from his borrowed eye. A rarely used and repaired tanto clutched in his dead man's grip in a last moment of fruitless defense. His pack lay around him, alive but silent and morose in grieving as a bloodied and crushed Obito reached a still arm blindly for the form of Rin even though he had passed on himself. The smell of burning ozone wafted around the petite body of the brunette as Sakura remembered how she had come to die, a hole punched right through her small chest, edges burned from electricity.

Minato was wrapped protectively around Kushina, her bright cherry locks splayed out in a great red sheet and Sakura felt herself drop to her knees as the waves of anguish washed over her. She looked towards the boy, no man, still standing in front of her. His normally jovial expression was clouded over in hatred and anger as he looked at her in disgust, like she was no better than pond scum beneath his feet.

Sakura felt so small and the smells assaulting her made her want to retch but she held on, wanting to plead to the man who she loved that it was true, she really could make it better. She wanted to make all of the promises she could, anything to make the dreadful visions in front of her go away. Anything to keep her from seeing the terrible truth of what was her existence. She was one of the only ones left, a series of coincidences and the right time and at the right place keeping her alive rather than her own strength.

She opened her mouth to say something, anything to make it stop but found that though she moved her lips no sound escaped. No pleading could stop the horrible nightmare that she knew had once been real. Crying reached her ears and she searched for the source before realizing it had come from her. Great racking sobs escaped her as she dug her fingers into the ground as if to grab purchase.

'It wasn't a lie,' she wanted to say. 'I never lied,' she wished she could plead. 'I really do love you.' She stopped sobbing to scream only to find herself gurgling on slick lifeblood as the would-be savior of the shinobi world thrust a swiftly swirling rasengan into her chest. 

She was choking on her tears, gasping to the ether and frantically reaching for any absolution.  No air would fill her lungs, no sound would emerge from her lips, she felt as if she were literally drowning in her sorrows. 

She couldn't breathe. 

She didn’t want to breathe.

This was her reward, the end she had earned. 

She was tired, she was hurt, she was done. 

She was ready.

She wanted to close her eyes. 

She wanted to dream again. 

She wanted to live that dream.

But she still couldn’t breathe.

‘No!’ she screamed silently, hand reaching to grab nightmare Naruto’s arm. ‘No, I will make this happen,” she pleaded mentally, looking deep into his furious eyes, begging for him to hear. 

Her vision receded as finally her lungs expanded and she could breathe again. 

Sakura felt herself jolt awake, sitting up straight and taking deep gasping breaths. A cold sweat prickled at the hair on her arms and she ran towards the bathroom as the nausea from the nightmare threatened to overtake her. After quickly voiding the entire contents of her stomach, which consisted mostly of ramen, she made her way back to the bed. Sitting with her back pressed against the headboard and knees drawn up to her chest she glanced over towards the numbers glowing unnaturally bright in the dark of her room.

The glowing red digits read 3:27 am and she gave a long shuddering sigh. She knew no more sleep would be had tonight.

-xxxxx-

"That was so unbelievably reckless," the demure woman with chin length black hair chastised her patient after she was done wrestling all of her internal organs back into the correct order. To be fair the damage hadn't really been that awful, it had simply felt as if it were so. Sakura gave her a shy smile, half in return for the patch job, half because she was glad to not taste blood in her mouth anymore.

"I know, but I think I have it all figured out now." She stated, not shrinking into herself at the harsh glare Shizune sent her way. "I don't have the chakra available without my seal to do it completely but if I supplement it with a seal on me rather than a full jutsu I should be able to do my modified technique." She finished with enthusiasm, eyeing her friends slumped shoulders warily.

The black eyed poison mistress took a defeated breath. "I understand," she stopped for an instant before continuing, mustering the courage for her comment. "Sakura I just can't handle seeing you that close to death anymore. We've already lost her," Shizune took a momentary breath, unable to say the name of her mentor. "And we can't lose you too. Even if you think it's for the greater good."

"I'm not that important," Sakura started, "I'm no more important than anyone we have lost already." She was cut off from continuing by Shizune's voice.

"But you are," her voice wavered fleetingly. "Tsunade may have been my mentor but you were her true apprentice. You were to succeed her. You inherited her strength and her seal, you were cut from the same battle hardened cloth." Shizune spoke without jealousy or spite, only confidence. "You were going to do so many great things Sakura, and this damn war has ruined it all for everyone."

Sakura could only offer her a small smile in return, unable to voice the emotions filtering through her. Instead she cheerfully hopped off of the small cot she had been sitting on and started organizing what little medical supplies they had with forced liveliness. Once Shizune's somber form retreated fully Sakura couldn't help but look down toward her hands, once more reaffirming her earlier statement. "I'm not that important, I just know who is."

-xxxxx-

The hospital looked so strange to her. As if she was looking at a black and white photograph when she had only seen it in color. It wasn't dirty, or worn per say, just seemed to be aged in a way. The paint was a strange tan that she knew must have been popular at the time and she could see that the filing system for paperwork was different. Sakura leaned back into the reception desk and took a long deep breath. 'This is what I needed, some familiarity' she thought as she took in the scene around her.

The hustle and bustle of the Konoha hospital had been her refuge before they had left the village for war and she was finally starting to feel slightly grounded. As if she was finally grasping at the straws of what her life used to be. The smells of antiseptic and sounds of shifting papers acted like rose tinted glasses, blinding her to all of those differences that stood out before and she felt herself almost slipping into her role from before.

The calm that had descended over her shattered like gleaming glass as she caught sight of her would-be guide. The differences that she had fooled herself into ignoring stood out in sharp contrast. It was no longer a paint color that was wrong but entire layouts, and she couldn't recognize a single person working the reception desk. She knew that shortly before she had started working in the hospital it had undergone an entire renovation and it had never been clearer until the moment she saw the purple stripes on the young girl's face.

Rin Nohara was looking at her with these big doe eyes full of admiration and she felt her feet nearly move on their own. She wanted to run, avoid all of the wrongness and this Chunnin girl that was looking at her like she was the brightest star in the sky.

"Haruno-san," the young medic started before blushing at her error and correcting herself. "I'm sorry I meant Unmeiko-san, I'll be your guide to the hospital today." Rin finished speaking with formality and clarity. Sakura felt herself give a small noise of acceptance, not quite trusting her voice as the brunette started leading her around.

She attempted to look interested as the teen showed her around, hoping that her face portrayed one of excitement and welcoming of new knowledge but she couldn't help but see the scene changing in front of her. Rin's voice filtered into the background, becoming a mere murmur, easily ignorable, as she prattled on about the building she was touring.

The halls became brighter and the faces of passersby slowly shifted into ones she knew as if it were some strange double exposure from a camera. She almost followed the ghostly voice of Tsunade barking orders from the E.R. but stopped herself once she realized it was all in her head.

"Unmeiko-san" a voice called to her, so very far away, and she felt no need to reply. That wasn't her, she didn't know anybody by that name and yet that timid voice repeated it in her general direction begging for attention. "Unmeiko-san" it was more urgent now, demanding her reply and she felt the foggy vision of her beloved hospital morph and snap into startling lucidity.

She slowly turned her gaze towards the small hand resting on her arm, astounded that she hadn't instinctively reacted with violence due to how deep within her own mind she had been. Those doe eyes were staring at her again, almost annoying in their kindness and she forced herself to unclench her jaw. "I'm sorry, I kind of lost myself for a moment there. The layout of this hospital is very similar to the one I was undercover in." Sakura said, letting the lie roll off her tongue with a finesse she was sure she didn't really contain.

‘I’m really losing it, aren’t I?’ the thought clanged around in her mind for a moment more.

Sakura clenched her fist as those brown eyes turned sad, emanating an unnamable emotion and a pity that she simply didn't care to have directed at her. The change was momentary though as nearly instantaneously they lit up with a cheer Sakura could only hope to feel. "Well as I was saying our last stop will be the staff lounge where Yubina-sensei is waiting for us." At the brunette's words Sakura gave a small start, Yubina Kenko had been someone she had worked with before.

Once they reached the aforementioned room a petite woman with a kind face, honey brown hair, and delicate healer's hands greeted her. Her middle aged face held far less worries and wrinkles than the one that Sakura knew when she worked with her during the twilight years of the medic's life. She tucked back a strand of hair that was blissfully free of the dull gray Sakura was used to seeing and gave her such a gentle smile the pinkette couldn't resist giving a sincere one back.

"Unmeiko-san, nice to meet you." Yubina spoke with a soft voice, one used to many years of maternal care and Sakura remembered that she had several children and grandchildren.

Sakura interrupted her before she could continue further. "Please, just call me Sakura." She was sick of hearing that false name and didn't know how much longer she could handle it. 'I'll need to get used to it.' She thought to herself inwardly grimacing. 'It's mine now.'

The elder medic continued unperturbed. "Very well, Sakura-san. We are currently experiencing an overflow of paperwork from all of the wounded from the war. I'll have Rin show you our organization then that'll be your monster to tackle." She gave a nod of acquiescence at Yubina's words and withheld a groan.

'Well,' the pinkette thought to herself glibly, 'Tsunade did say I'd be starting at the bottom.'

-xxxxx-

Obito Uchiha gazed lovingly at the Chunnin girl next to him as he munched on a sticky sweet treat. She was recounting her day to him, going on about the strange pink haired woman that had saved his life yet he couldn't distract himself from the lovely violet stripes across her cheeks that he wanted to gently run his fingers over as he cupped her face. A wet plop of dango sliding off of a stick and landing in his lap shook him out of his dazed distraction as Rin stopped her story and gave a light giggle at his current situation. Quickly grabbing a napkin from the counter behind them he cleaned up the mess and waited for her to continue.

"It was strange though, at one point she got this really faraway look in her eyes and didn't even hear me calling her name." Rin recalled, before lowering her voice into a near silent whisper. "I wonder if she has trauma from her time as a spy."

Obito shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Honestly I wouldn't care if she thought the moon was a secret base for a family of rabbits, that move she did with that boulder was wicked awesome and saved us all. I owe her my life and then some." He finished, dark eyes once again lingering on the girl next to him.

"You're right," she said before she licked a bit of tacky syrup from the corner of her lip "besides I guess it is kind of cool that she is so secretive." Her brown eyes glanced towards a small clock hanging on the wall of the treat stand they had been eating at. "Oh, we are almost late for our meeting with sensei." With that Rin hopped up and started off towards the training fields.

Obito tried not to watch her backside as she left, but in his attempts to purposely look away he didn't notice the small child running in front of him with a handful of dango sticks. Turning to follow her he stepped off of his stool and right into the kid, sending the little boy to the ground and the syrupy sweet smearing all over his clothes.

After buying the kid some more dango he looked down at his now sticky clothes and knew that he was going to have to change. Obito gave a small sigh of disappointment knowing that no one was going to believe this excuse before pulling down his goggles and jumping across rooftops at full speed. He just knew he was going to be late now.

-xxxxx-

Sakura was beginning to really understand where Ino got her sadistic streak. After her unbearably boring shift at the hospital she had followed Inoichi through the city fully expecting to see a few small apartments only to find herself inside the very one she had been admiring the day before. He had given a grin as he swung the door to a now empty place open and she walked in slowly taking in the layout of the space once again.

The walls were a lovely pale yellow that bounced the natural light from the large window around the empty area. The living space consisted of a large living room and dining room that led towards a well equipped kitchen, to the left a short hallway led to undoubtedly a bedroom and bath while a small closet was on the right next to the door. It was very obvious that this apartment had cost a pretty bit of coin even in this time and was very influenced by the modern tendencies of the age.

"You realize there is no way I can afford someplace that Tsunade was renting right?" she glowered at him and he gave her a cheery finger wag in return.

"Tsk, tsk" he started and she was really starting to regret seeing the similarities in the two Yamanakas. "Didn't I tell you that the Hokage was giving you a stipend? Not that that matters anyways, Tsunade owns this unit and said you could stay here while she was gone." Sakura felt herself gaping at the blond's words. Tsunade hadn't seemed overly fond of her last time they spoke.

Despite the sannin's frosty attitude towards her when they last parted ways she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, slipping off her boots at the door she made her way towards the kitchen before digging into the empty drawers.

"The place is already empty, I double checked earlier so I doubt you'll find anything interesting." Inoichi stated, walking over and leaning one elbow on the small counter that separated the living area from the kitchen. Pointedly ignoring the man she continued her search until she found her prize.

Pulling a long forgotten bottle of sake from deep within the cabinets Sakura turned towards her new friend ignoring his surprised eyebrows and took a long drink from the bottle. "I know her well enough to know that she always forgot where she stashed this stuff, there was bound to be some in this place somewhere." Sakura reasoned, mentally chiding herself for drinking the alcohol so impolitely but she was still adjusting to the situation and this was taking the edge off, as long as she didn't descend into full blown alcoholic status like her mentor she'd be fine.

"Anyways," she started pinning down her companion with a green eyed stare. "This brings up a whole other set of problems. I was hoping to find a furnished place and now I'm going to have to figure out how to get a whole apartment taken care of." She knew he had stated she would be receiving money from the village but it wouldn't really be enough to buy her an entire home's worth of things, clothes, and furniture.

Inoichi's pupil-less blue eyes crinkled in delight as his lips raised in a happy smile and she suddenly was hit with a wave of nostalgia so intense she felt as if she was drowning in front of the man who was reminding her so very much of her best friend. "Already taken care of. Tsunade had all of her things put into storage instead of being sold and said you can use those too." He started happily before holding up a single finger. "Except one thing, she said you'll need a new bed. Something about not wanting to know what that pervert would write in his books if he ever found out another woman had slept in hers." As he finished Sakura felt a small bubble of absurdity burst forward.

The small giggle that had started quickly devolved into all out laughter as she thought over the sentence. It really would be just like Jiraiya to use something so literal as influence on his filthy stories. Inoichi fixed her with a questioning glance before she waved him off with a mumbled "You'd have to know him to understand." His blond ponytail gave a quick bounce as he nodded in acceptance.

"Anyways I had a team sent over to get her furniture and kitchen things out of storage before I came to get you, they should be here anytime." As he finished she felt a familiar sense of dread pool deep within her stomach quickly recalling an offhand comment Rin said about having to do some small missions after her shift today.

"Inoichi," she started, exerting force to keep her voice level and unflustered. "Which team did you get?" It may seem like an overreaction yet she could feel the first dredges of panic seeping into her at the thought of seeing her sensei so young and cold again and the man that so fiercely reminded her of her blue eyed teammate.

Before he could answer a sharp rap from the door cut through the companionable quiet the two had been enjoying. He walked towards the door to see who it may have been and threw a reply over his shoulder. "I got Minato's team, I figured since you've met them already it'd be a bit better."

As she watched a blond Jonin and his team bring in box after box while two members traded barbs with each other about Obito's lateness she came upon a decision. While Ino may have had a sadistic streak a mile wide Inoichi's was twice as deep and worse yet, it was completely unintentional.

-xxxxx-

"You want me to do what?" Sakura shouted, she felt her body tense up in apprehension before she jumped to her feet and began pacing in front of the large rich mahogany desk.

The Hokage looked at her warily before repeating himself. "I want you to join ANBU." She shuffled back towards his desk and plopped back into her chair, the nervous energy having worked itself from her system. After having settled into her new lodging and letting Inoichi get back to his wife, she was greeted by an unknown mask and told to meet the village's leader. Being the generally rule-abiding shinobi she was, she found herself in the old man's office just as the sun was setting over the horizon expecting to go over some of the information she had given him previously. What she did not expect however was being told to join the prestigious black ops program when she had only been in the village a matter of days.

"Why?" she asked, elongating the word as one would when they didn't trust what the answer would be. He shuffled a large stack of paperwork around, some written in her hand some in his before finding the sheet he was looking for. She knew her eyes held some frostiness towards the man at the sudden request of her, it was honestly something she never saw herself doing before the war, and tried to soften her gaze. She knew whatever reason he would come up with was for the best.

"If we are going to disband Root I'm going to need someone on the inside. The only way you will catch Danzo's attention is," he stopped immediately, holding a hand aloft towards her in an effort to keep her from speaking as well. She heard the knock on the heavy office door and understood the need for caution. Hiruzen gave a soft "Come in" towards the entry and lost some of his stiffness when a young teen that looked uncomfortably familiar came in holding a bag that seemed to be take-away, and enough for two people at that.

Dark eyes regarded her warily before turning towards the Hokage speaking to him in a rather careless tone. "Kaa-san wants to know if you'll be home tonight." A jolt shook her at his words and voice and she looked towards the mystery person once more, aging him and adding facial hair. He looked to be around fourteen and had the unevenly pitched voice of a boy in the midst of puberty. The contextual clues finally added up and she realized that the boy standing in front of her was Asuma Sarutobi. She found herself giving him a kind head nod and warm smile before his father answered his query.

Hiruzen glanced towards the clock on the wall and back towards his paperwork before responding. "Tell her I won't be too long," he said standing up to walk his son out.

"Thank you for the delivery, I know it was on short notice." At his words the teen gave a quick humph and nearly skulked towards the door, only giving an over the shoulder wave as acceptance before leaving.

Sakura quickly dug into the offered food, having been called to the meeting before she had a chance to buy some groceries. She recalled now the strained relationship with his father that Asuma once told her and Ino about long ago during a mission with him that involved the Twelve Guardian Ninja, before the Akatsuki came about and had made everything so much harder. She wished she could tell Hiruzen that their relationship did finally smooth but was unsure of how to broach the subject.

"As I was saying," he picked back up after enjoying a few bites of his meal. "Being in ANBU is the most efficient way of putting yourself on Danzo's radar. It shows that you are trusted by the village and a capable shinobi on your own merits." He finished looking towards her and plucking a perfectly cooked piece of meat from his plate waiting for her response.

She glanced down towards her own take-away contemplatively, she knew that the best way to incriminate Danzo was to gain his trust and the best way to gain his trust was to be appealing enough to enter his organization. "I understand your thoughts, and it makes sense in a way, but I just worry about the timing. Won't he think it's too convenient?" she asked, accidentally spearing a piece of beef on her chopstick with more force than necessary.

"Nonsense," he started, placing his food to the side for the time being. "As long as we wait a week or so it'll just look as if you came back from a very extensive high stress undercover assignment and found working a shift at the hospital to be too mundane for you anymore." He paused and took a moment to glance out of the windows before continuing. "Sadly it is something that is seen often. Anyway I am confident in the work Inoichi and I have done to make your backstory believable, you should have an ironclad persona."

She nodded to him, somewhat mollified by his response. It would make sense, and she knew that with him at the helm of all of the ANBU registration and testing she would be a shoe in. She also probably wouldn't be taking many dangerous operations if he played the mission desk properly. With a great huff of resignation she gave him the answer he had been wanting all night. "Alright, I'll do it."

With the next steps in their plan set in motion they spent a good hour or so going over details and nuances before she was finally released just as the sun dipped under the horizon. As she walked through the village admiring its beauty in the twilight glow she shuffled the small scroll from hand to hand thoughtlessly. Within the scroll was a standard registration form for the black ops that she was to fill out within the coming few weeks and yet it felt as if it were such a heavy weight.

She tried to distract herself from the situation at hand, even if only for a moment. She slowed her pace to a stroll, observing the shinobi and civilians she passed as if they were characters in some stage show. She still thought of them as those that lived in the past, like she was a mere visitor to their homes. It was an oddity that despite her growing friendships she still felt like an outsider and she knew with time it would stop, but only when she could accept the truth. From now on this wasn't the past, she was now officially in the history books of her time, and her timeline had been so monumentally changed the moment she appeared here that it very well didn't exist anymore.

'This is my home now.' she thought, sending it clanging around her head and hearing it echo within as if she yelled it in a cave. It was a realization she hadn't quite admitted to herself, disputing the knowledge she couldn't get back to her own time period. She could never have her friends back as friends. With the new age difference imposed upon them she would be more of a mentor than a companion.

'Maybe when this is all said and done I can get a job at the academy' she mused. It would be a nice position, something well suited to her academic mind, and she would be able to still see all of the shinobi she grew up with. It would be an easy occupation that was for sure, one far away from the hustle and bustle of the hospital and much calmer than being sent on mission after mission out of the village.

A fleeting thought danced across her mind, one that sent a momentary shiver of panic through her body. What would happen when she was born? She shook the question away, her mind was thick with difficulties to tackle as it was and that was something she simply didn't have the answer

Instead she returned to more immediate thoughts, like those of how the silver haired Hatake still eyed her with suspicion but slightly less open hostility or how she was growing fond of the bright Uchiha that consistently pushed Kakashi to be more friendly. She had been so concerned with the grand sweeping changes she was making sure to make that she had forgotten about the small influences other people made on each other.

Smiling to herself she continued her trek towards her new residence, happy that some changes were taking effect already.

-xxxxx-

Things were quiet. Well as quiet as things could be when what remained of a village lived as nomads in temporary camps. Alas things were calm enough that Sakura was willing to spend some time and precious chakra teaching minor healing techniques to a few promising medics. 

“You’ll need to be mindful of how you apply the chakra, you can’t just flood someone's system with it.” she explained, her hand glowing a gentle viridian as it smoothed over the skin of Izumo’s arm. He had volunteered to be an example and quickly sliced the appendage with a kunai, his usual bravado and bluster had been missing since Kotetsu had been killed a few weeks back so she was more than willing to indulge the shinobi. 

Konohamaru raised his arm enthusiastically, bouncing in place until she prompted him to speak. “Why not? Wouldn't you want to heal someone as fast as possible by giving them a bunch of chakra at once?” She felt herself smile at his eagerness to learn, he was one of the few children left and she was happy to see him acting his age. 

“Everyone and everything has a chakra network. Even the trees around us have chakra running through it, and just like you need to find the right amount of chakra to channel to tree walk without hurting the tree you need to find the right amount to heal someone.” she started, a smile crossing over her face at the joy she found in teaching. “My chakra pathways can only handle so much, just like yours and Izumo’s, our bodies are designed from birth to only produce a certain amount of chakra. It’s why I’ll never be able to do a jutsu as strong as Naruto’s”

She waited for a moment before continuing, making sure they were understanding. “Because it can only produce so much at a time your pathways can only contain a certain amount, if I were to over fill his chakra pathways while healing him I could potentially burn them out entirely.” As Sakura finished the explanation she gave Izumo’s arm a gentle pat, the wound now entirely absent from his pale skin. 

“Sakura sensei?” another student asked , pulling her attention back to the group. “What do you mean our bodies can only produce so much chakra?” 

Sakura beamed at the group, glad that in the middle of all the war they were having such a lively discussion, an almost return to normalcy. 

“Excellent question! Well it’s a combination of our bodies and souls really, for example have you ever heard of twins with a lot of chakra? No we haven’t, in fact there is a wonderful theory that because twins are so close during development they even share the same pool, and because of that they have a smaller amount.” 

Sakura continued to rattle on, going on about theories with the attentive audience, waving shinobi over to join in when they walked by, her lesson on minor healing turning into a much more abstract discussion between the large group as they did anything the could to keep their minds off the war that was trailing in their shadows. 

Chapter Text

Be Running Up That Road

It had been several mind-numbingly boring days of filing before she had a break in her routine. Just as the sun's first rays attempted to peek out from the horizon on her first day away from the monotonous tedium of the hospital she woke up, stretching the aches from sleeping on a sofa away and quickly prepared a cup of steaming tea. 

Plodding back to her couch with her drink she pondered what she would do with her free time. With the end of the war and somewhat peace throughout the land, missions were hard to come by and Sakura felt herself thinking that the Hokage had been right. She was definitely already bored of her day to day and knew that others would be too, plus ANBU received the highest mission loads. She drummed her fingers along the side of the cup absentmindedly, without anyone to spend her days with she could certainly see the appeal that the black ops held for some.

A knock shook her from her thoughts, the bang repeating twice more at her door. With soft grumbles of wondering who it would be this early and internal thankfulness for something to distract her she trudged towards the threshold, warm tea still within her hands. Swinging open her door, she tried to keep her eyes passive as opposed to embarrassingly happy at seeing Inoichi Yamanaka on the other side. "Morning," she greeted, peering at him questioningly over the rim of her mug of caffeine.

He smiled jovially at her, and she noticed that his normally crisp Jounin uniform was replaced with one that was worn and damaged. Old mud and bloodstains alike littered the standard blues and patches in the elbows had been worn away, he carried two kunai holsters instead of the usual one and his long blond locks were doubled up within his hair tie creating a lazy bun. All in all he presented a rather unmistakable image of someone ready for a rough morning of training.

"I heard from a friend that you were planning on applying for ANBU." He started and she held back a scoff, the aforementioned friend was most assuredly Sarutobi. "So I figured after spending all of your time in that stuffy hospital you could use some sparing to get you all refreshed."

'I'm not too sure I like this trend of people showing up to my place and dragging me out to fight' she thought belatedly, looking down towards the simple leggings and oversized top she had taken to wearing for sleeping. She didn't have many clothing options as of yet, having only had the time to buy some easy to wear separates and aprons for her days at the hospital, and looking at the state of his training outfit she figured she would need something easily replaceable. 

"Sure," she replied, having realized that in her internal thought she left him standing rather awkwardly in her doorway waiting for a response. "Just let me go change and I'll head over with you."

She waved him in, gesturing towards her sofa and almost missed the cry of 'here' as he tossed her the second weapons pouch he had with him. The move sent a small stab of pain towards her already abused heart, it was something so reminiscent of the times where Ino would come over to drag her out and lob some new accessory that she thought Sakura needed towards her.

Once the door to her room shut she allowed herself a brief moment of composure, the memory echoing through her mind like a deceitfully catchy melody. Taking a deep breath she patted herself on the cheeks before she went to dig around for some new clothing. 

A few minutes passed before she joined him in the living room again, clad in the standard blue shirt and pants she had been given upon arrival, the sleeves rolled up revealing the supple leather gloves and pants tucked into her new sturdy boots she had splurged on.

She slipped a small elastic band from her wrist to her candy floss hair in an effort to keep the locks that had been allowed to grow too long in check before they were both out of the door and racing across rooftops in companionable silence.

As they touched down in a different training ground from the one she dueled Tsunade in, she observed the two new men that had been waiting for her. Both were in similar age to Inoichi, mid 20's, and very obviously the heirs to the Nara and Akimichi clans.

Shikaku Nara stood leaning against a tree in a very relaxed pose that she had seen on his son many times. Two long scars reached across his face at his right cheek and temple, still puckered and freshly healed. She noticed he was wearing the deer skin coat she had only seen him in a few times before, it looked less torn and ragged and she remembered that Shikamaru told her he stopped wearing it because his mother threatened to burn it for how shabby it had become.

Whereas Shikaku looked so infuriatingly similar to his son Choza Akimichi however, looked very different. It wasn't a physical difference that stood out to her, sure his facial markings were not the same as Choji's and his hair was a deeper striking red as compared to her friends light brown but it was the way he carried himself that set him apart. Where Choji's kind and gentle nature was paired with crippling self-doubt, his father's very same calm being radiated with a confidence and wisdom that made him seem to be a mountain next to the boulder that was his son.

Introductions were made and she did her best to feign ignorance at the names of the two men. For once she didn't falter when she gave her false name, not used to it per se but more accepting of it with time. "Sakura is going to be applying for ANBU soon," Inoichi started, having been directing the introductions. "I figured that the three of us could get her into shape." She looked towards him incredulously, (she didn't need to "get into shape" thank you very much), before feeling a sense of dread take over her. Up until now she had been hoping that they would be fighting on teams of two or in two separate one on one battles but now she knew differently .

He was making her fight Ino-Shika-Cho. That asshole was throwing her to the wolves and smiling about it, she noticed with a growing eye twitch. While Sakura had a very well developing friendship with Inoichi she was not above thinking of ways to torture the man, and oh could she think of the ways.

They may be a legendary trio, but she was the student of a Hokage and while she knew for sure they wouldn't be beaten by her alone she was going to try her damnedest to give them a fight worthy of their time.

Moving so that she was standing opposite the three she quickly performed several stretches to limber up, Inoichi doing the same while the other two thirds of his team stood by obviously having done so before they arrived. Feeling sufficiently stretched she settled herself into a ready stance, eyeing her opponents. All three stood relaxed, Shikaku carrying himself with a slump even in battle and Choza keeping a firm yet light grip on his Bo staff. 

She tried to reason with herself that this wasn't an awful idea, but it wasn't quite sticking. She knew how this formation worked despite never having fought against it and Inoichi was the only one who would know she was aware of it.

Taking split seconds to analyze the terrain she noticed that they had settled on a thickly treed field, heavily shaded and without any wide open spaces for her to flourish in. She realized with a belated thought that Shikaku must have made the choice and had possibly been one of the ones in the crowd that witnessed her fight with Tsunade. She wouldn't be able to crack the earth as she was used to, she needed it to stay flat so she could easily track the trajectory of the Nara's winding shadows.

She slid one foot back behind her, poised for speed rather than brute strength and gave one last tug to the leather gloves before quickly creating a clone of herself. At some point along the way Naruto had managed to teach her how to make shadow clones but she could only ever force one into existence, and even then it was a gamble depending on her chakra levels. She reached down within herself, dredging up old genjutsu tactics that had been long buried to make way for the chakra infused taijutsu she had been relying on since the war started.

Both her and her copy dashed towards the opposing nin who were happy to let her make the first move, the two Sakura's weaving in-between each other, her clone in front. Each time her clone passed in front of her she made another hand sign, quickly drawing up the chakra required to create a passing illusion and waited until the exact moment her duplicate jumped high and brought one leg down towards the earth in an impressive arc to execute her plan. Instead of truly cracking the earth apart she instead let the deception take over, creating a temporary genjutsu of the ground exploding and dust filling the sky.

Quickly weaving another set of signs she felt herself melt into the earth, because a shadow user needed light to control his creations and there was no light underground. Knowing that her trick wouldn't last long she moved rapidly as if swimming in the dirt before tightly coiling her chakra inwards, and bursting out of the ground, her control aiding in leaving a small hole rather than a massive wound in the earth. 

There were no surprised shouts at her reveal, her foes being too high classed to fall for such wiles, instead they each simply leapt away with moments to spare, she noted that despite Shikaku's lazy nature he was the quickest to move, his body all wiry and build for speed.

There was no more time for observation as she was suddenly thrown on the defensive, her clone having been dispatched while she was underground. The sham of a battle quickly turned into her spending as much time in the air as possible, darting around lightly to avoid both Shikaku's shadows and Inoichi's jutsu. Choza was her main adversary, both his size and reach keeping her on point and she let a swing of his staff get a little too close before jumping up and using it as if it were a springboard. 

A crack echoed through the training ground, the high pitch creaks bouncing off the trees nearby, reverberating and making her ears burn. 

Twisting high in the air she let several of the borrowed kunai fly, and quickly grimaced when one of them was caught by a black tendril and thrown back towards her, nicking her upper arm. As she dropped back to the ground in a crouch she could see that the portion of Choza's staff she had jumped off of was now a pile of shards and splinters and was agitated at herself swiftly pulling all of her channeled chakra away from her extremities. It was wasted energy and too much force for a friendly spar, she needed to get it together.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Only during the war one on one battles were a rarity and the sudden experience of fighting against the odds was throwing her back into that dark place where every day was a bitter struggle to survive. She sucked in a deep breath, willing the red haze that was creeping towards her consciousness to retreat, and focused the chakra back into her hands, making sure to lessen the flow to a near trickle.

Breathe in.

Breathe out. 

In. 

Out.

She gave a small nod towards the three men who had given her a moment to compose herself before dashing forwards again, taking long strides and small leaps to avoid the shadows that she knew deep down were moving at a fraction of their regular speed. She threw a wide punch towards the Akimichi, and was met evenly with one of his enlarged hands before hopping back and sending a kick towards his armored midsection.

In.

Out.

The clang of the metal echoed throughout the field as he was twisted from the force of the impact, instead of faltering he used the borrowed momentum to swing back around, the non-shattered end of his staff cracking her across the face. Crimson bloomed across her vision and that battle frenzy she had been keeping a tight hold on flooded her awaiting limbs.

In.

In.

The training field that had been beautiful in all of its wooded glory suddenly turned into the desolate wasteland that she was so used to. Her adversaries face melting off to reveal unknown enemies who desired nothing more than her death. Gone was her control and she was suddenly a whirling dervish of fury and desperation. It was no longer a spar, she was once again on the killing fields tearing her way through foes with a selfless abandon and these three in front of her were only another step in the long bloody road towards peace. It was the end, this was her time and she was once again slipping out of a state of consciousness and into that of her lizard brain.

In.

In.

In.

She couldn’t breathe out. She wasn’t breathing out. She was gasping great gulping breaths, and she couldn’t breathe out.

In.

She heard someone yell her name, except it wasn't a voice she recognized as one of the few left alive so she let it wash over her uselessly. Except it kept echoing around in her head, repeating over and over with a sense of urgency and she suddenly went still, unwillingly rooted to the spot and unable to move to defend herself. She felt the fight leave her and for a dark truthful moment welcomed the end, her berserker rage bleeding from her limbs.

She was hyperventilating, her medic mind diagnosing her as if she were a patient.

Hyperventilation. Hyperventilation is rapid or deep breathing, usually caused by anxiety or panic. This may actually leave you feeling breathless. When you breathe, you inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.

In.

Why couldn’t she just breathe out?

In.

"SAKURA!" The voice finally cut through her battle haze and she felt the ugly vermillion recede from her vision and felt herself go slack. Only she didn't drop to the ground, her body stood upright and rigid, with inky tendrils of shadow twisting up her legs and Inoichi's hands firmly grasping her shaking shoulders. Her vision cleared enough that she could focus on his face that was close to hers, enough that she could see the subtle green tint to his eyes that made him different from Ino's. They held a worried frenzied look and she immediately felt all of the scattered minutes and pieces snap into place, the small bits of information that had penetrated her craze forming a real picture.

Breathe Out.

A happy sob escaped her when she realized she was no longer in that dark place and she felt the black twists recede before collapsing like a broken doll with no one to support her. Inoichi was giving her a look that clearly stated they would be speaking later about her mental state while Shikaku was eyeing her like a puzzle to solve. Choza looked pained but not unfriendly as she spotted the awkward bend in his arm that she was more than positive she caused.

She felt a stab of guilt and quickly made her way towards the large man, a calming green light enveloping her hands and a blossom of affection in her heart when he didn't flinch away from her hand. She sank to the ground, bringing him with her and proceeded to infuse his system with her healing energies. No words were said as she worked on Choza's arm, instead a silence lingered in the air, not one that begged to be broken but one that spoke of a calm companionship and ability to speak without sound that she longed to have with her own team.

-xxxxx-

Shikaku Nara was well known for his intelligence. He also was well known to be quite lazy but happily relied on his intellect to circumvent that particular downside of his personality. He is equally known for his penchant for puzzles and the pink haired woman in front of him was shaping up to be a rather intriguing enigma indeed. He watched as she soothed away his teammate's pain and wondered if he had seen her around the village before the very public fight with her mentor.

Inoichi had said she had returned from a long undercover op, yet he couldn't recall seeing her anywhere before the war had started, and with her rather unconventional hair color she would have been noticeable. Her burgeoning friendship with his teammate was also a questionable development.

A puzzle indeed, a thousand piece epic with painfully bright colors that made your eyes hurt.

While he trusted the blond to be faithful to his wife he still couldn't help but wonder where the two had met. Still the Yamanaka had asked them for a favor, as odd and unprompted as it may be, and over the years the three of them had made a point to stop counting the favors between them and just help each other out.

So he had found himself in the training field six way too early in the morning with more questions than answers. His first thoughts when Inoichi and the pinkette had shown up was that she was shorter than he expected. Younger too. With all the accolades that had been laid upon her name in the recent days he would have thought her to be closer to their age as opposed to the not quite adult that she was.

The start of the spar went well, she fought with thought and took time to think things through before acting. Her first moves were strategic, and in a way that made him question how much she knew of the trio, yet she could only be firmly placed in lower Jounin ranks. It wasn't until the mid-point of the session when she turned into a being of wild fists and uncalculated moves. There was a strange gleam that had completely taken over her eyes as she fought that both he and Inoichi knew well to be signs of lingering trauma.

Once she mindlessly snapped Choza's arm the blond started yelling for her frantically to no avail and he had to resort to trapping her with his jutsu.

She had obviously been struggling with a panic attack or some similar scenario.

She recovered quickly after that, he could really commend her for it. Which brought him here, watching as she healed the damage as well as she caused it. He knew that she was expecting some sort of reprimand for losing herself but Inoichi had already sent him a piercing glace that encouraged him to gloss over the incident.

He settled himself down next to her, recounting every moment of the battle in picture perfect detail, analyzing her every move and calculating where she could improve.

"Well to start, stealth is not your strong suit." He said, and filled away a look that told him she wasn't keen on the idea of black ops at all. "But your control is above standard and you have a very solid taijutsu base." He stopped, humming to himself for a moment and trying to find a way to say what he had to with as few words as possible.

"As far as I can tell ANBU should be easily achievable with some hard work. I imagine…" he was cut off by a sudden explosion of flame and chakra that lit up the mid-morning sky. It was near enough that they felt the blast of hot air hit them head on as they all looked towards the source.

They were all on their feet within a moment, starting towards the road that led to the nearby training fields when he held back for a second to shoot a look towards Choza, giving him a quick nod for the man to turn back towards the village and find some backup. While his arm may be not in pain anymore he was not ready for a full on fight if need be.

Running full tilt towards the scene he made sure to keep sneaking the pink haired conundrum glances, careful to make sure she could contain herself when they saw what was on the other side of the tree line.

They broke through the foliage and both Inoichi and Sakura who were a step ahead of him immediately went towards the two small bodies that were lying prone within the inferno of trees. He quickly gathered chakra deep within himself, prepping for a jutsu that was unusual for him but not unfamiliar. He felt his chakra peak, swirling like eddies within himself and allowed the torrent of water to bubble up and escape from his mouth. The flames weren't gone but they had certainly died down to more manageable levels and he noticed that Inoichi had brought his charge back towards the relative safety, a young girl of ten with deep purple hair that was well known for her mischief.

Sakura who had disappeared into the blaze came darting back, a still brown haired boy cradled in her sooty arms. One blue sleeve had been ripped from her shirt and gently wrapped around his mouth and nose to ward off smoke damage and her pink locks were slightly singed and smelling of burnt hair.

She had dropped to her knees, hands once more glowing that soft green before the reinforcements had arrived, eyes clear of that gleam he had seen before. Amidst the sounds of water jutsu's shouted from around his ears caught a small sniffle.

Turning back towards the now conscious girl he did his best to recall her name. Anko Mitarashi floated to the forefront of his mind and he bent towards her in his most disarming way possible and with a soft non accusatory voice asked "What happened here?"

The sniffle turned to outright tears and he cursed himself and all womankind for being so troublesome. "I was trying to do this cool jutsu that I saw at school, but I think I did it wrong and all of a sudden fire was everywhere and" the girl sniffled and he found himself impressed with her abilities to accidentally create this inferno. "and" she repeated the tears dissolving into entire sobs "is Hayate going to be ok?"

He looked back towards the woman who held herself with such confidence that was missing during their spar, she was so assuredly healing the small boys ails that he felt the gnawing suspicions melt away. Sure, she was a paradox, virtually unknown until a few days ago, but she was so open and easy to read he no longer felt threatened by her presence.

In fact he almost looked forward to training with her again.

-xxxxx-

Sakura was tending to her young charge again, smiling at him as she checked his charts from the end of the hospital bed. "Well Hayate it looks like we worked quick enough that you won't have any lasting damage ok?" she chirped, careful to not be too loud knowing that she wasn't technically allowed to do much medic work within the hospital yet.

The brunette nodded back at her silently, his throat too raw to speak just yet. He looked passingly familiar, like she had met him for a day and never knew him again. Sakura wasn't sure she had known him in the future, he would have been in that awkward age group between her and her sensei's and even then with how extensive his smoke inhalation had been at the scene of the accident she was sure he would have had lasting health problems if he had initially survived.

Sakura gave him a smile and a wink before sneaking out of the room and retreating back towards her horrifying closet of files. Fingering the singed edges of her pink locks she gave her nose a small wrinkle, the smell of burning hair still lingered around her and she wished she had been able to take a shower before work, however the incident had squashed that idea. 

She studiously ignored the small child that was attempting to sneak through the hallways out of sight. Her candy floss hair tended to attract young kids and she thought nothing of it, just assuming that he was a little boy playing ninja. 'Although,' the thought ran across her mindscape fleetingly, 'for a kid he's really good.'

She had noticed him earlier when she arrived at the hospital with Hayate, he arrived moments after her and had just not been there enough for her to not get a good glimpse of him to get any features. Instead she had been content to let him trail after her as if he was her own personal shadow. That had however been hours ago and she was somewhat sick of feeling his slightly nervous energy from outside the windowless room she had been sorting.

The pinkette turned on her heel, a bit faster and harsher than intended and gave the seemingly empty hallway a good stare, her gaze catching a shadow on the ground at a turn off. She could feel the child's tightly constrained chakra, a sign of someone attempting too but not quite hiding it. Giving a slight huff she let her posture slump into one that was more disarming than her usual confidant stance. "I know you are there." Sakura started, green eyes never leaving the corner she knew her follower was hiding behind. "Please come out now."

A small figure peeked out before fully coming around the wall and she felt her heart plummet to her toes as she could finally take in the black hair and black eyes of the child that now stood only a few paces away from her. Tiny stress lines could already be seen underneath his impossibly dark orbs that already looked so much older than the four some odd years old she knew him to be. She quelled the instincts beaten into her to run at the sight of the older version of the boy and gave her best smile, forcing one hand to stop quivering long enough to reach out and beckon him closer.

Itachi Uchiha stood before her, looking for all the world like a normal little boy and so heartbreakingly similar to his younger brother that she was sure if she would crack from the surreal-ness this right here would be the moment. She knew of the truth of the massacre, she knew that it had all been an order and he had only been a very dedicated soldier yet she couldn't keep herself from feeling that initial deep seated fear from the legend that he was before the truth had been revealed.

"Hi there," Sakura started, doing her best to keep her tones light and calm. "Is there a reason that you have been following me all morning?"

He walked towards her assuredly, lacking any of the common uncertainties of a child his age and she was fiercely reminded that he was a fully functioning shinobi even at such a young age, and that along with the sad look in his eyes made her heart clench at the implication. He had probably already seen death at this point. Had probably been the cause of it even.

She was startled when he stopped in front of her and gave a deep formal bow, yet she was even more shocked when he spoke, his voice so childlike and even though she consciously knew it would be for some reason that pitch was so surprising to her. "I saw you heal that boy today in the training fields." She felt herself nodding at his words encouraging him to continue, pink locks bouncing at the movement. "I don't want to hurt people anymore. I know that it is my path but I don't like it."

Sakura nearly grabbed the boy by his shoulders to embrace him. His words were so broken and sad and the confirmation that he had in fact taken part in the war at his age nearly shattered her. He looked her dead in the eye, red spinning wildly not from anger or willingness to harm but from sheer determination activating the coveted technique. In those eyes she saw a desire for peace.

"Shinobi-san, I have a request for you."

-xxxxx-

"Are you sure you will have the time for this?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked the woman across his desk. He had gotten rather used to seeing Sakura in his office these past few days yet was immensely surprised when she had all but barged in earlier with a young Uchiha trailing after her as if she were a mother duck and he a duckling. Then again his surprise had been easily eclipsed when she started talking, demanding that her young follower be made her student in Tsunade's healing arts. She leaned into her words with an authority that told him what she couldn't say. She felt this was the correct course of action and he felt himself acquiescing to her request.

He watched as she shot the boy another look, one that had lingering traces of pity, before answering him. "I'll make time." She spoke with that same steely resolve as she did when they first met and he resigned himself to many tedious discussions and fights with the Uchiha clan over the matter. Itachi was the pride and joy of the clan, the youngest to activate the Sharingan and he knew that Fugaku would not easily yield to his prize tool becoming a medic, let alone the student to someone without a well-known name.

His gaze found the boy's dark eyes, ones that had been so lifeless before shining with a new light and found himself uttering the very words that would seal his fate. "Very well, I will do what I can." The pinkettes face lit up at his decree, and she and the Uchiha quickly wished their farewells before leaving, a certain spring in both of their steps that was lacking before.

'Kami-sama,' Hiruzen prayed silently, eyes tilted towards the ceiling 'Is this a test? If so please grant me the strength to see this through.'

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: So Much Hate For the Ones We Love

"No?" the question slipped past her lips, dribbling down until it settled low in her belly like a rock. Misery swirled in eddies within her as she thought of the look upon Itachi's face and the meaning of the word. She stared at the patriarch of the Uchiha family dead in the eyes and felt the gloom morph into fierce indignation. "Your son has given more for his village than most people decades older than him. Kami-sama, he has killed to protect someone before he even left the academy and you don't have the decency to let him leave this hellish profession." Sakura looked from the imposing clan head towards the only other person in the office, Hiruzen, who was seated and looking on with carefully masked features.

Fugaku Uchiha stared towards her stoically refusing to rise to her ire. "He is a child. He does not yet know what he wants." His disdain colored the carefully measured words, raising her hackles even more.

"He is a human being." She started, louder than intended but unable to hold in the rage. She was suddenly struck with the feeling of relief that the subject of their discussion turned into a verbal battle was not in the room. "And he deserves to be able to make his own choices."

Her opponent raised one dark eyebrow in response to her words, his being radiating a cool aura of indifference. "What do you know of raising a child?"

She clenched her fists tighter, willing them to stop quivering in anger before replying, her words little more than a violent hiss "I know that if my four year old child ," she paused adding emphasis on the word, "was waking every night in terror and believing himself to be a heartless murderer I would put an end to whatever caused that." She felt a moment of glee when she saw that her words had an effect on the statue of a man.

"Itachi is the heir to the clan." Fugaku ground out, his speech no longer cautiously controlled, slivers of irritation seeping through. "He is a prodigy and I will not let him waste his skill on becoming some non-combat medic. Even if for some reason I were to allow him this heinous travesty I would not let him be trained by some lowborn nobody who does filing at the local hospital." Sakura felt a fire alight in her, an inferno of rage that wished for nothing more than to obliterate the man who spoke the words. As she opened her mouth to retort to his scathing remarks he continued on. "You are nothing more than a little girl riding on the coattails of your disgraced mentor and unworthy to teach my son anything."

Her heart pounded a shuddered rhythm as she fought herself for words and her flames were tempered by the ensuing silence. A feeling that was equal parts humiliation and anger enveloped her and stole her voice as she watched helplessly as the oppressive and bitter force that was Fugaku Uchiha strode from the room. She was vividly aware that she had stood toe to toe with the second politically strongest man in all of Konoha and lost.

Disappointment swelled within her, like a great crescendo to a dramatic piece of music and she found herself rushing out of the room. "I need to hit something," she called to the Hokage as she left, slurring the words together in her hurry to say them before her voice broke.

The village was a swirl of colors as she found herself racing to the nearest training ground and praying to a Kami she wasn't sure was listening that it was empty. Dropping from the trees she found herself in a familiar clearing, obviously some earth users had been by to fix the ground but the tree that she had uprooted to throw towards Tsunade was still laying on its side towards one edge of the field. A new addition had been made though, a simple wooden training post that now stood proudly from the hole that had been left by the formerly mentioned tree's roots.

Taking a deep breath she walked towards the post, forcing the chakra that had slowly accumulated from her agitation on her way over out of her fists, the cool green glow dissipating in the wind. Sakura planted her feet shoulder width apart, and adopted a rigid stance so very unlike her usual one before quickly punching the wood and uttering a quiet "One" underneath her breath. She felt her rosy and singed hair shift in the breeze and nonsensically thought that it was time for a cut. "Two" After her time in the forest a lifetime ago she never let it get past a certain length, the desire to do so squashed like so many childhood hopes. "Three" It turned out Sasuke never cared about the condition of a girl's hair anyway. "Four….."

-xxxxx-

It was humid that day. The kind of heat that made her feel dirty and sweaty right out of the shower. Aside from the unnatural temperature something felt….off. Everyone was more on edge than usual yet no one could really understand why and yet no one spoke of it for fear of bringing about unintended consequences. It was the same unspoken rule as not saying it was quiet in the hospital. It was only around dinner time when she was leaving the medic tents that tensions rose to unparalleled degrees. As she strode towards her campfire of choice that evening she could hear the whispers and feel the gazes that followed her. A sliver of paranoia creeped upon her and she was too tired to squash it. Channeling a tiny fraction of chakra towards her ears she strained to hear someone's conversation.

"She doesn't look like she knows yet." Her gaze swept towards the two kunoichis at the words. It wasn't said with pity or malice, just a neutral observation and she noticed they were both from the former water village, the designs of their standard uniform giving away their nationality. She grit her teeth, knowing that the innocent sentence would gnaw at her until she sought clarification.

Striding over to the two she looked towards the speaker, a kind looking kunoichi with pale lilac hair and eyes that were far too young for the battlefield. "What don't I know?" she asked, doing her best to keep her cadence light and non-threatening. The two girls looked towards each other, obviously uncomfortable with the thought of telling her and she felt the need to prompt again. "Please tell me."

The companion of the girl with lavender locks gave a short sigh and refused to meet her eyes. "You should go find your teammate." It was a simple suggestion, not said unkindly and yet she felt her heart plummet to her toes before dashing away from the two women.

'Naruto' she thought, and the name sounded strained even in her head. Something must have happened to Naruto and they never told her. Rationalization finally kicked in when she had finally reached the large tent in the middle of the enormous camp. It was the main command base for the kages and since Tsunade had passed Naruto now held the mantle he had desired all his life. If he had been injured in some way they would have brought him to her, she was the commander of the medic division, it was procedure.

She took a calming breath and reached for the flap of canvas with a shuddering hand, pausing before she could grip the green material. She sent a small jolt of chakra into the ground and felt it slither along as it sensed the chakra of those inside the building. She could feel Kakashi with his deep and slow moving yet eager flows and Hinata who somehow managed to give off an air of grace and lightness with just the feel of her chakra. She could detect Shikamaru towards the back, his as always felt ever swirling, always searching and ready. It was a feeling that was at complete odds with the ever lazy persona he was keen to adopt.

There were two that she could recognize in the sense that she had once passed them on the street once or twice and of course Naruto. Ever since he had come to an agreement with the Kyuubi his chakra always felt as bright and sunny as he looked and she took pleasure in the warmth that radiated from it.

The remaining essence struck a chord within her, a great dissonance as her heart and mind conflicted over the feelings the cold chakra brought up within her and she took an unsteady gasp at the knowledge of who stood on the other side of the flimsy wall.

Uchiha Sasuke had returned and all she could feel was relief. A relief that Naruto might finally be finished with the all consuming quest to bring their teammate back into the fold. She tried to conjure up affection or joy but any tendrils of positive feelings were shot through with mounting irritation.

Once more she took a deep breath and once more she reached for the flap of the tent this time with a hand devoid of shaking before striding inwards confidently. All eyes had been turned her way before she had even entered, waiting patiently for her arrival, Sakura knew she wasn't being stealthy nor had she intended to. Everyone seemed to wait in uneasy silence, as if the entire meeting was on pause simply for her reaction.

Kakashi and the Nara were at the back, relaxed in basic wooden chairs and to the side were the pair of vaguely recognizable shinobi. Looking closer she took in the red and ginger hair and recalled the names Karin and Jugo. In the middle of the area stood Naruto, grinning for all the world to see and Hinata at his side looking every bit like the battle ready princess Sakura knew she was. Yet it was the dark figure at the center of the group that commanded her attention so violently.

He stood so confidently and unapologetically that she felt a rage blossom from within her. Taking three quick steps forwards she swung a leather encased fist straight towards his unsuspecting face and sent him crashing onto his backside before she had even registered the movements herself.

Chaotic momentum erupted around her, almost everyone was now on their feet and Jugo was now holding a screaming banshee named Karin back.

As her initial attack was entirely unplanned she had no idea what she had meant to do next so she settled for simply offering him a hand. However the Uchiha being himself simply ignored her peace offering and gave an annoyed grunt as he pulled himself to his feet before rubbing at the now reddened spot on his cheek. She was suddenly struck with the relief that she had at least made sure to not channel any chakra when she punched him.

"Welcome back," She uttered and was astonished at herself for the lack of venom or doting inflection that would have otherwise colored her words. It was as if every negative feeling had built itself up into the one attack and now she felt an acute emptiness of any remaining scorn. Sakura's mind suddenly came alive with the awareness that she now felt nothing more than an odd emotionless detachment for Sasuke.

It was a haunting moment when she took in the picture they had made. She and Naruto had their dear Sasuke back after years of chasing him, Naruto was leading the closest thing to a village left, and Hinata had finally found the strength to stand beside him as an equal and partner. It was as if all of the fairytale wishes of naive young children had suddenly come true. Yet she couldn't be happy, because she no longer felt any stirrings of affection for the ebon headed vigilante returned. Because she fervently wished with all her heart that she was the one beside the boy with the yellow hair.

'But,' she smiled grimly at the scene before her, a false grin that stretched her lips too wide and never reached her eyes, 'this isn't a world where fairytales can come true anymore.'

-xxxxx-

Many strange things were happening within the walls of his beloved village. Minato Namikaze was no fool, he knew very well that his home was undergoing a drastic change so soon after the war. Yet while most of it was the return of joy and stabilities to the civilian's lives that was bringing about a difference in the lives of the shinobi he could tell well enough that there were some machinations going on behind the scenes.

For starters before his historic mission Sarutobi had all but promised him the position of Hokage as soon as the treaties were signed. Yet now that things had calmed somewhat any discussion of the change in regime were stalled with cryptic brush offs.

He had a nagging feeling that it was all to do with the pink haired woman his team had picked up on their way back from the bridge a few weeks ago. That hunch had only been reinforced when he had been called to the Hokage's office a few minutes ago and told to search out said woman.

"Sakura is applying for ANBU." He recalled the old man saying. "I would appreciate it if you were to give her some training on speed and stealth." The request had set off alarm bells in his head. Why would a woman who came back from a deep undercover mission need training for stealth.

It was also wholly out of character for Hiruzen to put so much effort into getting someone into the black ops, it was a general rule that anyone applying would get a trainer by their own merit. Yet here he was having been given a command by his superior to do so, one that had even been given as a mission by the end.

It was maddeningly confusing and he felt a personal paradox of whether or not to trust the strangely colored kunoichi. On one hand everything she did had rung of suspicion from the moment they had met, and this new revelation even more so. On the other she had the complete trust of his village's leader and she had selflessly thrown herself in the way of danger to save his team, a team of people she had never met.

He was taking his time, heading towards the training grounds as Sarutobi had suggested, hoping to sort out the quagmire that was his current thought processes. He followed a hunch and traveled towards the field he believed her to be in, and ran into unexpected company. Taking in the scene before him he quietly dropped to the ground next to his companion, folding his long legs at the knee with a small sigh.

Sakura Unmeiko was across the clearing, methodically punching into a post that he knew was brand new. The wooden pillar was being whittled down by her actions, a large groove having been formed from her repetition. The control she was exhibiting and the blood that was dripping from her knuckles told him that this was not a matter of training.

"Sensei?" he looked down towards the owner of the voice. Rin's brown eyes were questioning and she looked as if she had been sitting there for a while. He gave a gentle hum in answer and she continued her speaking. "I was looking for a spot to train and I saw her here, I figured I could ask her about what we had talked about, but," Rin stopped and turned back towards the pink haired woman beating her fists into bark. "She looked so sad and angry. I figured it'd be best to let her just…be." She finished, waving a hand non committedly at the final word.

He glanced down towards the top of her brunette head, slightly shocked for her emotional maturity, and not for the first time. Out of all of his students Rin, with her kind heart and soulful eyes, was probably the least suited to being a kunoichi yet she was excelling at it. Turning his attention back towards the woman who had stopped her hits to take off the tattered scraps of leather that were once her gloves he found himself asking a question he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to. "How long has she been at this?"

"A few hours," the Chunnin girl started before standing up from her seated position and taking care to smooth out the wrinkles in her overskirt. He turned a questioning eye towards her, wondering why she had stuck around for so long. "I just didn't think she should be alone. I'm going to go find Obito and Kakashi for lunch. See you later sensei!" he gave her a quick wave as she raced off to retrieve her teammates.

He took a long breath as he stood and let his shoulders slump, as if willing the tension coiled up within them to dissipate. Striding towards the woman he forced a jovial "Hey Sakura-chan!" in greeting, hoping for the honorific to elicit some sort of reaction to drag her from her anger.

She spun toward him with wild searching eyes and the corners of her lips tilting up in the ghost of a grin before catching sight of him and deflating entirely. "You're not him" she whispered but the words still carried enough that he picked them up clearly and felt a sudden guilt at having unintentionally caused that moment of painful joy. He mentally filed the information away, thinking it may have something to do with when she mistakenly called him Naruto those few weeks ago.

Her jade eyes held a new sadness to them and he felt himself stumbling for words to explain why he was here. "So, um." He started before pulling himself together. "The Hokage said you could use some help with training for ANBU." He paused awkwardly, letting his sentence linger in the air when she didn't give a response.

"Please tell me that wasn't your attempt at training" He attempted to joke but could tell that it had fallen flat by the small glare she now sent his way.

She gave a disappointed sigh and took a seat on the ground and started gently healing her bloodied and swollen knuckles. "No, that wasn't training." She stopped and switched to her other hand. "That was, well I don't really know what that was. I was just so annoyed, so angry and done with constantly being the one watching backs"

He joined her on the ground, legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles, leaning back on his elbows. "Want to talk about it?"

-xxxxx-

"Want to talk about it?"

She flexed her fingers at his question, testing the mobility of the newly healed flesh, before responding. "Are all the Uchiha as condescending and pompous as Fugaku?"

He gave a small laugh at that, one that was deep and pleasing and nothing like the loud obnoxious bellows that Naruto was so well known for. "No, he's just a special brand of snobbish. Then again my only true experience of dealing with that whole clan is with Obito, and well, he's not exactly what I would call a traditional Uchiha." His joke caused a small chuckle out of the both of them and she felt some tension leave her body.

"His son came to me yesterday and asked if I could train him as a medic." She started before looking towards him to see if he had any outward reactions. Seeing none she decided to continue her ordeal. "He was livid, and said he couldn't have some nobody training his son."

She could hear him give a quick hiss in sympathy before he gave her a reply. "Well I guess you'll just have to prove to him that he should be proud to have you train his son." She scoffed at his advice. It was easier said than done.

"I don't think that will ever happen. He thinks I'm some child relying on the glory of my mentor to get me through." She started, before stopping and thinking to herself. In all honesty that was all she had ever done. She was well known only because of the merits of those around her. First she was the student of the Copy nin, then it was the teammate of the rookie of the year and the demon child. After Sasuke left it was because of his betrayal to the village. She had only really begun to stand on her own when she was training with Tsunade and even then she relied on her shishou's name to open doors for her and not her own abilities. Even during the war she was seen as the second coming as the slug princess. Sakura sighed, as much as it pained her to admit it Mr. Stick-up-the-ass Uchiha was probably right.

"Besides," she continued, forcing her thoughts back towards the previous track "I don't think he'd agree to it if I were Tsunade herself. He wants his son to be used as a weapon for the village rather than an aid to the people within it." She refused to allow herself more than a moment to wallow in the unfairness that was Itachi's current situation.

The blond man next to her made an exaggerated sign of contemplating something before he made a move to speak. "Well then the answer is obvious. You need to take on a different student and show him what he's missing out on." She turned a shrewd eye towards him at his words, a knot forming that told her she knew exactly what he was alluding to. "I believe my darling student Rin would be perfect."

Sakura felt herself snorting. The way he spoke was so similar to how Kakashi would occasionally heap praise unto them that she could easily see where her sensei had learned his teaching styles. Aside from that she found the idea somewhat appealing, the girl already almost worshiped the ground she walked on if the way she looked at Sakura the past couple of days was anything to tell by. "Was this whole conversation a way for you to pester me to teach your student?" she asked honestly.

"No," he replied before shrugging. "But she wanted me to ask you and I felt the timing was right. Can't fault me for it can you?" His response elicited a real giggle from her and she came upon the sudden realization that the more time she spent with the man the easier it was for her to differentiate him from his son.

The pain of loss that she had initially felt every time she looked at him had dulled considerably. She no longer saw the ghost of a man she had loved dearly and instead now saw him for what he truly was, Minato Namikaze, her new friend and now trainer. She stood up slowly and dusted off her leggings as she did so, watching as he did the same.

"So how about we get to training?" he asked, seamlessly moving the conversation forward instead of lingering on the unanswered question regarding his charge.

A calm breeze wafted through the field, blowing the grass and causing her pink locks to tangle about in front of her face. "Sure, but first I think I need to do something about my hair, it's starting to drive me insane." She grumbled as she moved to sweep the errant strands behind her ears.

He gave her a long look as if he were considering something before replying. "You should come with me, I know someone who can cut that for you." She gave a quick reply in the positive with a thanks before they started on their way. "You'll love her, she always cuts my hair and Kakashi's as well."

A strange sense of dread settled within her as she looked towards his askew and uneven hair. Thinking about Kakashi's gravity defying hair had her regretting the decision even more but she decided that this was a great bridge of friendship she didn't feel like burning just yet.

As they trekked through the village to an unknown destination they fell into an easy chatter. She marveled at how comfortable she was with this man who didn't know her secret and she had really only met a couple of times. Here he was taking her in and implanting her into his daily life like it meant nothing and she knew that to him it probably didn't. He was Naruto's father after all and he had the same natural charisma that seemed to ooze from the very blood of her blond teammate.

As they came close to a random intersection she felt the unnatural need to stop. He was doing all of this for her and what had she offered in return? Nothing, she hadn't even given him the decency of an answer on if she would train Rin or not. She felt as if she couldn't go any further without giving him some sort of sign of her gratitude. "Hey Minato-san," he stopped and turned back towards her questioningly at her suddenly too serious tone. She took a small breath and continued on "I don't know how much free time I'll have, but I would be honored to teach Rin a thing or two."

The satisfied grin he shot her was bright enough that she knew the commitment was worth it.

Teaching an already graduated Chunnin would certainly be easier than a small child prematurely out of the academy so she wasn't sure why she was so worried about it. Besides this would keep the girl safe inside the village for a couple of months at least, something she was starting to really be happy of because she couldn't quite remember the specifics of how Rin had died, she just knew she had never seen her around and knew something must have happened. 

It was only a few more minutes of companionable silence before they reached their journey's end and she followed him up some stairs towards a small apartment. As he made a small seal with his left hand she realized that the place they were at was his own and felt slightly uncomfortable as they entered until she heard him give a call into the home. "Kushina, I've brought company."

She took a moment to think about the situation. If he had brought her here for a haircut that led to obvious reasoning that it was going to be Kushina doing the cutting. Kushina, who had hair so long it had obviously never been trimmed. Looking again at Minato's wild hair and thinking back to Karin, the only other red headed Uzumaki she knew, and her eccentric hairstyle she realized two things. Firstly, it must be a universal trait among all Uzumaki that they cannot cut hair well at all and secondly, she was bound to come out of this seriously regretting it.

Before she could turn back and flee from the scene an excited yell from the hallway sealed her fate.

"Ramen Girl!"

-xxxxx-

"How can you be so calm about this?" he raged at her and she could feel the air cool around them. She felt herself flinch at his accusatory tone and refused to rise to his pain filled tirade. "We finally have him back and now he's leaving again and it's all for nothing." He continued and she reigned in the urge to embrace him as hot tears started dripping from his red eyes.

It had only been a month or two since Sasuke had shown back up in their lives yet to her it had felt like a near eternity. In that short time Naruto had taken it upon himself to push her and Sasuke together in a vain attempt to rekindle a relationship between them. He felt that since he was happily engaged to Hinata the two of them should be as happy together as he was. She tried to dredge up the long buried feelings of affection for the Uchiha yet had achieved nothing more than a few silent and tense dinners together before the two had informed Naruto that it simply was not going to happen.

Now the former avenger had taken it upon himself to travel the lands to find a way to defeat their enemies. He had claimed that it was because he no longer felt as if he belonged with an organized village, and she knew from the dark glares consistently sent his way that most of the forces didn't want him around as well.

To be honest with herself she felt relieved when he made the announcement, she no longer had to attempt to continue this farce of comradery for Naruto.

Naruto however was taking the news especially hard, considering it was a mere week ago that he had lost Hinata. After watching his fiancé sacrifice herself for her younger sister and his finally returned best friend leave he was feeling particularly defeated. She understood, so she did the one thing she knew she could do for him in his time of need.

Sakura let him pour his rage and frustration at her in his own personal way of grieving. She sat unflinchingly loyal as he yelled and spat vitriol towards her that she knew deep down he didn't mean.

"Can't you love him now? Make him stay? Or were your declarations of love just more lies all along?"

She stayed with him when he finally collapsed and let himself mourn his losses. She held him when he cried about how she shouldn't let the love of her life go away like he did and she thought to herself about how she wasn't going to. Sakura had promised long ago that she would do anything within her power to make sure that he survives this war.

Chapter Text

It Doesn't Hurt Me

It was a rare moment, in the middle of an insurmountable conflict, that they were able to enjoy a meal together. Sakura trotted towards the group circled around one of the many campfires that dotted the dirt field that once was a peaceful clearing. Laughter was fluttering through the air and she felt a smile tug at her tired lips. Kiba was telling some asinine story while gesturing wildly, his pointed teeth glinting off the flickering flames from the wide grin he was sporting.

They had just scored their first major victory and everyone was filled with hope and courage, it left the spirits in the camp considerably higher than they had been in weeks. For once, campfire conversations littered the air instead of quiet and tense discussions of the dwindling resources which had caused rationing as of late.

As she came upon the group known as the Konoha 11, plus a few more they had picked up over the years, she nodded thankfully at Shino who had shifted to allow her some room. She was seated directly across from Naruto, who in turn was seated next to Hinata, the Hyuuga princess who was bound to be found at his side ever since her love confession so long ago. The amber fire light was giving her a pretty glow and Sakura once again felt as if she paled in comparison to the pearl eyed girl's beauty.

"Just you wait, once this whole war is over they'll be begging me to be Hokage" The blond Uzumaki yelled, punctuating his declaration with a fist thrust towards the sky. However, the movement caused his tray to slip and fall, splashing stew at everyone's feet and Sakura had to stifle the tiny giggle at his suddenly sullen look.

A smattering of laughter erupted from the group yet she was concentrated on Naruto's face. She wished she could make him smile again, to be as happy as he was moments before because that is what they all needed at this time. Sakura smiled, and knew the perfect joke to lighten his spirits. "Oh Naruto, the only thing they will be begging you for is to finally take the chunnin exam."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He agreed grimly and she could have sworn that her words were said in jest and yet the cutting glares that were suddenly set her way from her companions told her otherwise. Sakura grimaced, the man across from her had gone from sad to broken and it was solely from her misguided choices. "Man," he whined looking back towards the wasted food "I'm still hungry,"

Sakura saw it as an opportunity to make amends for her poor comment and stood to offer her blond teammate her untouched meal. "Here Naruto, have mine." Her mouth was open, yet the sounds didn't seem to pass her lips. Instead it was Hinata who uttered the words, quietly and calmly towards Naruto while she gently pressed her bowl into his hands. The grateful smile he sent her way was so blindingly bright that Sakura felt her heart plummet.

Now standing awkwardly with all eyes on her, Sakura felt the need to escape, "Umm," she spoke quietly, shuffling her feet and searching for an excuse, "I've got work to do." She declared as she wandered away from the group. The sudden tense atmosphere of her creating seemed to evaporate with her leaving and she no longer felt as if she had any appetite.

Shoving her uneaten meal into the hands of some random shinobi, she couldn't get the image of Naruto grinning so happily at Hinata out of her mind. The heiress always seemed to have the right thing to say or do, she always knew how to make him feel confident and like he could take on the world.

Sakura glanced back towards the group and caught the sight of milky pale fingers intertwined with his tanned ones and felt the tears gather at the corners of her eyes. Rushing herself until she made it back to her tent she collapsed onto her knees once she reached solitude.

Simply put, Hinata was everything for him that she kept trying, and failing to be. Sakura gave a great shuddering breath, tamping down the sob that wished to come with it and rationalized with herself that if Hinata was what would make him happy then that was who he belonged with.

Hinata spent plenty of years pining after the sunny boy and was always polite and kind to him, where Sakura only foolishly acknowledged her feelings within the past year or so, and even then had always been borderline rude and cruel to him. It was only fair that the gentle girl had a chance with the boy of her dreams, she had more than earned his love.

Sakura had plenty of experience loving someone from afar. She could do it again, and if she kept telling herself that it didn't hurt she would eventually believe it, right?

-xxxxx-

Sakura plucked another overcooked noodle from her tray and dangled it thoughtfully in front of her eyes. She wasn't hungry per se, although the medic within her recognized the need for steady sustenance, more bored really.

Her life had fallen into a comfortable albeit not easy rhythm. She spent the days at the hospital, slowly working her way up the totem pole until she was allowed on regular rotations, which gave her opportunities to train her new apprentice Rin. She was thankful that she had been paired up with the young brunette because after her somewhat rash decision to teach her she suddenly found herself floundering for a time when she could.

After her shift and on her off days she was sliding between training partners with a ferocity that would have made Lee proud. It was either team training with the Ino-Shika-Cho men, or stealth and speed training with Minato, and on the rare occasions that he was free Hiruzen would attempt to remedy her horrible deception skills.

Needless to say she kept herself busy. Having already submitted the ANBU application forms she found herself in a waiting game that she didn't quite know the rules to, which compounded with her freak trip through time and personal mission to avert one of the biggest tragedies to befall the fire nation, left her feeling unnerved and untethered.

So lost in thought was she that she didn't even notice the crane masked operative appear within the dull employee lounge. She was so startled at the small cough he gave to get her attention that the precarious noodle dropped from her chopsticks and landed within her lap. Biting back a groan at the possible stain she turned her attention towards the agent.

Her apathetic mood suddenly disappeared only to be replaced with nervous energy when the black clad figure wordlessly produced a scroll for her before dashing off to wherever he may be needed. Shaking fingers worked to unroll the paper as she wondered anxiously if this was the news she had been waiting for.

Sakura's hopes were quickly dashed when the non-descript paper instead was only a summons to meet Sarutobi whenever she was first available. Looking back down to her bland lunch and thinking of how slow today had been she made the immediate decision to toss the offending noodles in the trash and take off towards the tower through the nearest window.

Both the Hokage tower and the hospital were in the heart of the village so her journey had been relatively quick and uneventful, after having been in the past for a few months she was no longer continually surprised by anything that may be changed, or unchanged as well. Due to her somewhat constant presence within the administrative building no one saw fit to question her or hassle her as she jogged up the large ramp that circled the inside of the building.

Sliding to a stop in front of the two large red doors she eyed the guards questioningly. One was the crane-faced man who delivered the message and the other had very recognizable spikes of blond hair peeking out from behind his colorful owl mask and she knew from how he held himself that it was Minato.

As soon as the doors closed behind her, she saw that it was only her and the Hokage in the room gave him a joking glare while pointing her thumb over her shoulder back towards the hallway. "You know, it's not nice to put my coach on guard duty while I'm working on ANBU training." She chided flippantly, yet her upbeat nature quickly disappeared when she saw the morose and serious look upon Sarutobi's face.

She zeroed in on the open files littering his desk, four papers with head shots of four different people and instantly recognized them as shinobi files. As she sank into the chair across from his desk she watched as he scrawled a large M.I.A. on the furthest left one while pushing the others off to the side.

"Today I received word that one of our chunnin teams came across a previously unknown s-ranked enemy while on a simple delivery mission." The professor started, his tone heavy with loss and she quickly racked her brain for any prior knowledge of such a mission only to come up blank.

"I'm sorry Hokage, I don't remember anything about that," she said, scanning the pictures to see if it was anyone she may have recognized.

He gave a gentle hum at her comment before nodding to himself, "I thought not, this is one of those cases where it would have been buried pretty deep." He started before pushing the files closer to her so she could get a better look at them. "The jonin leader and two of the chunnin were found dead at the site. This last chunnin however is the one that concerns me. He was never found and is now listed as M.I.A '' Hiruzen concluded and paused waiting for her reaction.

As Sakura looked closer at the file of the missing shinobi she felt as if the air was sucked from the room. Dark black hair tied in a top knot and even darker eyes graced a face with very obvious familial features. She didn't even have to look at the last name to know the implications of what she just read.

Uchiha Hidari was listed as missing in action, presumed dead but unconfirmed.

One of the reasons that tensions ran so high between the Uchiha and the rest of the village after the Kyuubi attack was due to the not quite secret that the sharingan could control the mystical beast. Yet at the time of the attack all Uchiha had been accounted for within the walls, or were well documented in their mission locations. Sakura realized with a start that she may be looking at the face that caused the nine tailed fox to rampage throughout her precious village.

"Did he?" her voice shook at the question that she was unable to finish, the following words going silent as they stuck inside her throat.

The Hokage nodded gravely, knowing what she was attempting to ask. "Yes, he had a fully developed sharingan."

-xxxxx-

Sakura found herself waking to a rap at her door and a paper stuck to her cheek. She sat up, unfolding herself from the slumped over position she had been in all night and gave a mighty stretch, while peeling the file from her face. As she was leaving Sarutobi's office last night he offered the missive to her, as well as a cryptic message of 'Tomorrow'.

She had stayed up late into the early hours of morning, studying any information about Uchiha Hidari she had available, even going so far as to let imaginary scenarios run rampant throughout her mind in an attempt to explain his eventual betrayal.

What she ended up hypothesizing was that within the ranks of geniuses that the proud Uchiha clan produced, Hidari was mediocre. He had done well enough to reach chunnin at a reasonable age, eleven, and had unlocked the sharingan at fourteen but his paperwork and track record led to the same place. She could read between the lines well enough to know that he would never advance beyond being a career chunnin, maybe a Toukubetsu Jonin if that.

In a clan of monster's he was comparatively average, which still put him in dangerous territory.

She was reminded of Fugaku's rage at the suggestion that his son became a healer and how he raved about Uchiha's and their talents and knew that within the clan Hidari must have been under extreme pressure.

And criticism.

She could only guess as to what had happened but the most likely scenario was that he had simply snapped. Or he was possibly tempted with the same promises of unfathomable power that Sasuke had fallen prey to so long ago.

The knock at her door repeated and she shook herself from her reverie, taking a moment to attempt to tame her now wild hair, and quickly made her way to answer.

As she swung the door open she was greeted by the owl masked ANBU that she was now sure was Minato with one hand poised to knock again. Without saying a word, he moved his hand and in one smooth motion produced a plain and unassuming scroll. She instantly perked up at the movement and grabbed the offering and asked a question she knew he was not allowed to answer.

"Is this it?" she queried, and had to restrain an overly feminine squeal of delight when all he offered her in return was a very reassuring wink before he suddenly disappeared with a telltale yellow flash.

As giddy as she was at the knowledge of what was contained within the parcel she made sure to close her door before nearly skipping back over to her table-turned-bed for the night. She fidgeted with the edges as she contemplated the true meaning beyond the paper.

Yes, this undoubtedly contained information regarding her ANBU exam, and given Minato's wink it was to be positive, but it also represented a very important step forward in one of her plans. Being part of the elite black ops would allow her to travel more freely should the need arise as well as gain the attention of Danzo, someone she was bound and determined to put a stop to before he corrupted anymore shinobi to his emotionless ways.

Unable to keep herself still she hopped up and began pacing the small length of her apartment before ripping into the scroll.

The message was brief and free of flowery words. All it contained were simple instructions stating a location and to be prepared for a three-day absence starting tomorrow.

Her pacing stumbled to a halt. 'Great', she thought sourly, dreading the conversation she was bound to have. 'Yubina-san hates non-excused absences.'

-xxxxx-

Inoichi was tense, his muscles were held uncomfortably taut yet he couldn't convince himself to relax. He was standing in front of a door, her door in particular, the door to the girl who had come into his life and thrown it upside down. He and Sakura had become close friends and though he knew that it was mostly based upon a future relationship she had with his daughter he was unbearably worried that his actions would end that.

Instead of wallowing in the guilt of an action he had yet to perform he instead forced a wide grin on his face as he knocked a bit too harshly on her door.

The happiness and excitement that shone in her eyes when she answered made him want to turn tail and run.

'Grow a pair.' He chided himself mentally as he crossed her threshold, holding aloft a bottle of expensive sake for her to see. "I hear there is a call for celebration," he called out with false jubilation before helping himself to her kitchen and pulling down two small sake cups.

She joined him at the counter with a look of mild insecurity upon her face. "There are no guarantees I'll even pass the exam yet." He waved an arm over exaggeratedly at her words, as if he were flapping them out of the air and felt a real grin creep up at her tiny giggle.

"Nonsense, you could do this even without the Hokage pulling strings." He declared while pushing one of the now filled glasses in her direction. She raised the ceramic to her lips and he felt his stomach drop to the floor before she stopped just shy of drinking.

"Really?" she questioned one last time, and he found that he couldn't quite make his lips work so instead he gave her a silent nod in the affirmative. He felt himself exhale a sigh of something unknown as she once more raised the cup and downed the liquid inside with one large gulp.

The change in her mood was instant as she immediately detected that something was not right and he was thankful that he requested the additional paralytic to be included, having known she would probably purge herself of the sleeping agent before it had a chance to work otherwise.

She turned now furious eyes towards him and he felt himself wither from her glare all the while pleading for forgiveness with his eyes.

"This is…" she started before her words turned into a slurred jumble and he quickly moved to grab the sake cup that dropped from her now loose fingers.

As her body began to sag against the countertop he wrapped an arm around her small waist and gently lowered her to the ground. "I'm sorry" He whispered repeatedly to her, hoping beyond hope that when everything was said and done she would be able to forgive him, because when a shinobi trusted someone it was with their life, and something such as this could shatter that trust irreparably. He was sure to meet her frenzied panicked eyes and did his best to silently convey that this wouldn't hurt her.

The sleeping agent finally took effect and she drifted off yet he found himself waiting on the cold kitchen floor for the ANBU corps to pick up their newest recruit.

-xxxxx-

There was an annoying chirp repeating in her ear. 

It was a noise that all native to Fire grew up knowing well. Many nights camping in the wilderness would both start and end with falling asleep to and waking to the unending noise of the crickets that permeated the forests.

Her heavy eyelids snapped open immediately upon the realization. Beryl green eyes focused on the offending insect that was creating its repeated melody in front of her prone body. The first shift of her now awakened body startled it enough that before she was pushing herself up it was halfway across the small clearing she was lying in.

She was groggy, yet not overly so as she could feel the memories and puzzle pieces snapping together, and blissfully not sore. Giving herself a quick pat down she found that she was in the clothes she had been in before Inoichi had dosed her sake, but she had no weapons on her person, even her usual hidden senbon in case of emergency was missing.

The oversized and densely packed flora was so recognizable that she immediately came to the conclusion that she had been dumped within the forest of death. Pushing down the mild panic that always crept up when she remembered the hellish second task that took place within these very trees she forced herself to refocus.

A flash of light glinted off of a kunai that was pierced into the ground tip first, a single word was scrawled across the tiny slip of paper hanging by a ribbon that had been tied around the ring end of the blade.

Survive

It made sense in a way, she realized, that this would be the true beginning to her exam. ANBU were well known for doing things on their own terms and she supposed this fit right in with the rhetoric. What kind of exercise would it be if she arrived packed to the gills with all the supplies needed for weeks?

She circulated a tiny bit of chakra to her ears, enhancing both her hearing range and ability before she finally stood. Careful to not make too much noise she waited in place patiently, keeping on her toes at the first moment's notice of an enemy.

A barely there sound of someone landing on a branch drew her eyes up. There, within the trees was a single black clad figure with a blank white mask. A single gloved finger pointed down towards the kunai and she allowed herself a fraction of a moment to glance in the direction of the blade. The nin was still and she realized with a jolt that nothing would start until she picked up the kunai.

The paper tag waved tauntingly in the miniscule breeze and she gave a small nod of reassurance to herself before she dived towards the blade. Tucking her knees under she executed a combat roll, yanking the knife from the ground as she passed by before using a bit of chakra to push off the ground and take to the trees.

'Well,' she thought to herself as the nin raced towards her now moving form, a kunai of its own at the ready, 'at least this is something I'm used to'

-xxxxx-

The fire roared to life and she executed a minor fire jutsu, one of the only flame based ones to have residence in her repertoire. Giving a slight grimace at her future meal she fixed the skewered squirrels over the blaze to cook. It would be sustenance but she had never quite developed a taste for the small animal.

"Squirrels?" her companion asked in a joking tone, "Oh kami, if that's what you are cooking for dinner I really am going to die out here." She fixed him with a silent glare and proceeded to tend to the cooking animals.

Ordinarily a team wouldn't risk using a fire this deep within enemy territory but winter was swiftly closing in and she knew that her patient would need the nutrients provided by meat, that and resources were so scarce back at basecamp that they didn't have any extra rations other than ones to last them the duration of the mission.

Looking across the flickering blaze towards Kankuro's bare sweat streaked face she couldn't help but reminisce over the series of unfortunate events that led to the current situation.

What was supposed to be a simple mission to deliver some sensitive information to their allies' in stone had ended up in a frantic dash through enemy territory on their way back when they inadvertently ran into a large group of rogue shinobi. Finally having had enough of the chase Sakura and her team, Kankuro and Ryoko decided to make one last stand.

They were faring well until the Suna nin had been blindsided by a nasty water jutsu that swept him against a large rock and crushed both his legs. After finally dispatching the rest of the enemies Sakura healed what she could of Kankuro's injuries but the damage had been intense and it would take several days until he could be safely moved. They had decided to make camp while Ryoko had returned to the village for assistance.

Sakura's eyes flickered over to the braces she had created out of large sticks and torn strips from her medic skirt that were used to set his legs and she remembered his wail when the jutsu had struck and broken both of them. She couldn't seem to get the image of his legs askew as if they were like those of his puppets out of her mind.

A cough tore her from her reminiscing and she realized that she never responded to his jibe. Swiftly grabbing a canteen, she made her way over to his form and forced a small smile on her face.

"Don't worry. I'll get us out of here alive."

They spent three days in the wilderness living off of the land and the small amount of resources they had on them. She fended off attacks from both wildlife and rouges alike and managed to heal his legs enough for him to be moved.

The damage was too extensive for him to remain a shinobi and after they were returned to the basecamp that was serving as the frontlines she made sure to see him off as he was transported to the rag tag collection of tents and simple buildings that the civilians were calling a village.

It wasn't until she returned from her next mission that she learned his caravan had been attacked, and although he was able to fend off several of the rogue ninjas using his puppeteering skills his lack of mobility was eventually his undoing and he did not survive.

-xxxxx-

Sakura wrapped her chakra around herself in a genjutsu that both cloaked her chakra and her form as she hid beneath the edge of the water. The group of four ANBU passed by without taking notice of her as they headed for the decoy camp she had set up late last night. Although both her and the 'enemy' were taking care to keep everything nonlethal she was feeling decidedly beat up and exhausted.

She had spent over 48 hours now hiding, running, and fighting her way out of the constant slew of situations that this damn test had been putting her in and despite Inoichi's earlier words of encouragement she felt as if any moment she would give up and essentially wash out of the exam.

She still had yet to figure out if she was the only recruit being tested or if there were more hidden within the gates of the forest. She was torn between hoping she was the only one, because she knew she had not been putting on a very good show, and hoping that there were others around her that would fail.

Sensing no enemy chakra around her she pulled herself from the water and the reeds, spitting one of the straw like plants that she had been using to breathe out as she did so. She gave her wet candy floss hair a squeeze to rid it of excess water and dreaded the coming nightfall, knowing that if she wasn't dry before sunset she would be chilled to the bone.

Sakura gave a sigh as she jumped into the trees and hid herself within the foliage to plan her next move, crouching down and resting her arms on her now muddy and pond sludge covered knees. During the later days of the war situations similar to this were frighteningly common and she had become somewhat adept at them. However, her time in the past, a past that was sinking ever deeper into peace she found that she had become soft. Despite all of her training to become stronger she had become mentally weaker, losing the edge she had gained over the years.

As it was it was only just past noon on the third day and she was feeling as worn down as if it were a week in. she recalled that the paperwork had said to prepare for a three-day absence and welcomed the end that would be coming soon. 

She was also covered in various filth from the forest and found herself fantasizing of showers. 

She had already found herself a steady supply of water and food was easier to scrounge up than she thought, she had been lashing herself to the trees with vines for sleep although she hadn't actually rested at all. Yet despite her survival so far she couldn't help but feel as if it wasn't enough, as if there was some sort of final test she needed to pass yet she couldn't quite figure out what it was.

She was shaken from the thoughts by numerous chakra signatures closing in on her location. Unlike the last small groups these nin felt no need to conceal their energies, instead letting them leak free with killing intent to match.

"Shit" she exhaled underneath her breath she took off through the trees, pumping chakra through her legs as they pushed off each limb with enough force to propel her forwards, leaving small splinters behind. There was no hiding this time, they knew exactly where she was and it had become a bitter chase that forced her to rely on speed rather than subtlety.

As she veered off the straight course she had been taking another group closed in on the side she had dashed to. Skidding in a way that made one ankle twist awkwardly she pivoted and dashed into the opposite direction coming upon the startling realization that this wasn't a chase.

They were herding her.

The shadows that crisscrossed the forest started to lessen, the light getting brighter and she thought that maybe they were leading her to the edge, back to the gates where she originally entered for the second part of her chunnin exam. She bit back a gasp as her injured ankle twinged from the exertion and tried her best to recall the mental map she had created earlier during the survival exercise.

She finally gave into the groan as she figured it out, they were not leading her to the edge of the forest but to the heart of it. No sooner than she came upon her conclusion did she have to slide to a stop and drop from the trees because she had arrived at the large stone tower in the middle of the forbidden training ground.

Her followers stayed within the shadows of the trees, not coming down but looming threateningly and she took a moment to brush a glowing green hand across her ankle and foot to heal the damage.

Glancing back towards the expectant shinobi, the sea of blank masks peeking out from the trees that were slightly unnerving, she turned towards the ancient tower. Squaring her shoulders and standing tall she took a quick measure of her chakra levels. She was low from using it at a near constant for the past two days, but it wasn't something she couldn't handle.

Placing a look of utmost determination upon her face she knew she must be prepared for anything, and in that moment she felt as if she could handle it.

Her steps echoed off the high ceilings as she walked through the former temple heading for the large center room that had served as a stage for her most embarrassing battle ever, yet it was also one that looking back upon she felt a measure of pride in. While she may have only fought the battle with Ino to a draw it was the first time she fought with the true determination that had seen her into her later years.

She stopped right before the entrance to the oversized room and swore to herself that whatever happened the room that she failed to become a chunnin in would be the room she became an ANBU agent in.

Blond hair caught her attention first when she entered the room. Minato stood in the center of the arena and it was the first time she had seen him in his black and white uniform without the colorful owl mask that always accompanied it.

He was looking up at her and gave her the tiniest of smiles before schooling his face back into the expected impassive façade. Yet in that small grin she felt the air disappear from the room. Without his mask and from far away Sakura fully believed that for a moment she was looking at his son. She felt her heart ache for a moment as she wondered how things had gone to hell so fast.

ANBU was one of Naruto's dreams, it should have been him welcoming her to the final test, with a grin so big he couldn't hide it and Sasuke at his side. They would have gone to Ichiraku’s for dinner after, pass or fail, and he would use his obnoxious ways to ensure they would be teamed up together, probably with Hyuuga Neji just to spite the stoic pearl eyed man. 

So many should haves. 

So many would haves 

So many broken dreams and promises that now mean nothing because every single person they ever belonged to had been brutally ended in ways that she never could have fathomed.

Sakura gave herself a mental shake, she was doing this so that he could have those opportunities and she needed to get her head in the game here. As she walked closer to the edge of the upper level she could feel the entrance of dozens of shinobi as they quietly slid into the viewer area to observe.

Taking a deep breath, she closed the gap between her and the railings before jumping down to the ground to meet Minato. He was holding himself at the ready and she knew that this would be one last fight, one that if he were to go against her giving his all she would undoubtedly lose.

"Sakura," he greeted with a small nod. She could tell he was hiding his emotions for the sake of the exam. "Just give it your all." He stated as he flipped one kunai into position and she mirrored his movements.

'Just give it your all' she echoed his comment within her thoughts. ‘Not win. Just give it your all. I don't need to win. I just need to show what I can do' she confirmed, reading underneath the underneath like all shinobi were taught to do.

She would just treat it as if it were a spar with the blond, and try her best to ignore the spectators. A sudden grin split across her face, if they wanted a show that was one thing she could give.

There was no Naruto to give her encouragement this time, only a halo of blank faced masks observing and deciding her fate, but she swore she could hear the ghost of his yells from the chunnin exam floating in the wind. 

With her free hand she quickly lifted two fingers in front of her face, making the signal for battle and waiting until he did the same. The moment both of their arms dropped she gathered chakra into her right leg, giving the ground a large stomp and forcing a chunk of stone to fly upwards into the air. Without a moment's hesitation she followed it up by forcing extra chakra to her arm as well, punching the stone and shattering it, directing the force outwards and sending the shrapnel flying towards Minato.

Using the distraction she had created and him taking the time to shield himself she did a quick flash step behind him, sweeping her leg low in an effort to knock him off his feet.

It wouldn’t work of course, but it looked impressive either way. 

He retaliated by jumping over her leg and pushing himself into the air in a backflip away from her. She took a moment to read his movements. 'Good' she thought to herself 'It looks like he won't be using the thunder god technique' she was relieved at the observation; it would make things slightly easier.

She pitched her kunai towards him, weaving hand signs the moment the metal left her hands, unwilling to lose her advantage of being on the offensive. As she finished her last sign a thick fog fell upon the arena, not a true one like Zabuza had used so long ago but a genjutsu replica of her own making, and she quickly made two clones and substituted herself with the kunai that had been deflected.

Her fist lit up with chakra, glowing ominously within the fog and she dashed towards her opponent, landing a solid hit to his ribs. She felt his white armor stress and crack beneath her blow and before she could celebrate she felt him swing around, and an elbow colliding with her bent back. She was forced downward from the force of the movement where her nose met his raised and waiting knee.

The snap from her face and the immediate blood flow let her know that it was definitely broken. She stumbled back gathering her wits about her and watched as he grasped his hopefully broken rib with a grimace.

Not wasting a moment she quickly dashed forwards, aiming a quick jab at his injured side. The smallest flicker of concern crossed his face as he danced away from her strike, her rushed chaotic attacks keeping him on the defensive. She grinned at his reaction, the joy that was reverberating through her bones as unable to be contained. 

Her calculated offensive maneuvers ended there however as the spectacle turned into a flurry of fists and kicks from both her and Minato. Both were landing the blows however she still could tell there was a chasm of a skill gap between them.

Taking advantage of a rare opening she feigned a punch only to turn downwards and crack the stone from underneath him. Once more using the rubble as a distraction she stopped to heal her nose enough to stop the blood, dulling the pain to a lingering but manageable ache.

Spying a large boulder dislodged from the ground quaking punch she decided to repeat a tactic that had worked before. Taking a quick flash step towards the stone she circulated chakra into one arm and flung it towards Minato, as soon as the rock left her fingertips she was chasing after it, keeping within the shadow of the stone jumped over it at the last moment, bringing a chakra laden leg down on top of her blond opponent's head. She felt her gravity shift as the Minato she was attacking disappeared into a puff of smoke and stumbled to regain her lost balance.

'Dammit' she thought as she quickly pivoted around feeling the familiar buildup of chakra that would always accompany Naruto's rasengan, and spun around to see Minato across the room with a bright blue ball of swirling energy in his hand. Her eyes went wide as she tried desperately to ignore the image of Naruto that her brain superimposed over her blond mentor.

She was screaming his name running up that hill towards him and feeling all of her everything squeeze into a tube before she was suddenly everywhere and nowhere all at once. Then she was there, the there right where she needed to be and he was finally in front of her seeing her for who she could be but his eyes were so wrong, they weren’t the bright happy blue she loved instead they were the terrified and anguished and she saw his arm passing through her stomach but there was no pain and so very many questions until suddenly there wasn’t.

She knew this was it, that last ditch effort to show her skills and she only had enough chakra to pull off one big move. Flashing through hand signs she rarely used she dug deep, pulling all of the chakra from her usual reserves and dipping into the well that was behind her seal.

As he raced forward with the Rasengan in his hand she finished the last sign sending a giant wall made of earth and stone meeting him head on.

She knew she couldn't defeat him, yet she never intended to. Satisfied with her show Sakura fell to her knees chakra depletion finally taking its toll. She wasn't in pain, despite all of the toil the past few days she never truly felt hurt. She was simply drained, it took almost all of her remaining energy but she managed to pull a confident and pleased grin onto her face.

Chapter Text

It's You and Me

-xxxxx-

There was no celebration for her acceptance into ANBU

Although that was to be expected of the black ops. 

There was only a single unadorned onyx box left on her counter the next morning when she got up for her shift at the hospital. Silently commending the stealth of the agent who dropped it off while simultaneously deciding she needed to up her security she made her way to the kitchen.

She had purposefully avoided it while she made her tea, leery and a bit afraid of the answer that was tucked beneath the shiny lid. Shaking herself free of her childish fright she put down the now empty tea cup and ripped the top free from its equally glossy bottom. The beautifully lacquered wood landed with a soft thump as she took in the sight before her.

A bone white mask was nestled within layers of satin, the flat porcelain drinking in light rather than reflecting it. Large black markings encompassed the eyes, ringing them and drooping down towards the side edges of the guise before tapering to a point and two pointed ears at the top had small horizontal stripes lining them.

After staring at the mask for a few moments in a curious wonder and confusion she glanced over at a clock only to growl at the time. Slamming the lid back onto the box she quickly dashed back to her room and changed into work clothes. As she was running through the living room her eyes strayed towards the container again and after shaking her head slightly at her own actions she grabbed the black wood and left the apartment.

It was a good thing they had lockers at the hospital.

-xxxxx-

"I like it." Inoichi stated as he lightly traced the black marks that stood out in stark contrast against the white. He had been painting the florist shop when a flustered Sakura came storming in after her shift, throwing a very elegant box down and grumbling to herself about getting shafted.

"Well good for you, but it's not like you are the one who has to walk around with a mask that represents an animal that scrounges around in trash and known for giving people rabies." She muttered as she went back to angrily painting the wall, and because he didn't want to lose his help he tried his best to not laugh at the paint splotch that flicked onto her cheek.

Deciding to spare her new uniform from any rogue splatters he tucked the mask back into its box before closing the lid. “While you can come off a bit rabid,” she huffed at his words, shooting him a quick glare before returning to her brushstrokes “That's not the only thing that raccoons are known for," he continued, waiting for her to turn her full attention to him so the words would soak in. "They are also known for dexterity and disguise," he stated and she cut him off before he could continue.

"Yeah, things that a kunoichi are supposed to be, big surprise." She mumbled. It may have only been around a couple of months since he had been introduced to the pinkette but he could already tell that something deeper than the mask design was bothering her.

"You didn't let me finish, it also means generous protector. I think it fits you very well." He concluded. She gave him a questioning look, unable to rationalize the connection. "You gave up your future to fix the past, and you are doing your damnedest to protect us all from making the same mistakes again." As he finished he watched as her eyes misted over and she gave him the look that he came to associate with her remembering his would-be daughter.

"Thanks" she sniffled and he could see that she needed a bit more prodding to open up completely.

"Now are you ready to tell me what's really bothering you?" he chided gently before giving a small chuckle at her muttering of 'Stupid Yamanaka mind readers'

She gave a huff as her frame slumped. "The exam was challenging. I mean it wasn’t hard but it wasn't a cakewalk either. It took time and I felt exhausted afterwards like I had been run through the ringer and yet from all of my calculations and plans that was the easy part." She rambled quickly before fixing him with a look that screamed self-depreciation. "How do I know I can even do this?" she asked in a voice suddenly small and quivering.

As soon as he heard the question he had the answer for her ready, something he knew deep within his bones. "You can do this because every single person who has met you, truly gotten to know you, has complete faith that you can do anything you put your mind to." As he finished her eyes teared up again with what he hoped was happy tears.

When the sniffles started he fumbled to change the subject, still unable to deal with crying women even after his years in intelligence. He watched as she turned back to the wall, her arm flexing as it spread paint upon the canvas. The movement drew his eyes to a large purplish bruise that spread up her arm and over her shoulder. He suddenly felt hot and flush with shame, remembering how he had betrayed her trust so absolutely. There hadn't been any tension between the two when she had first shown up to the florist shop and he was thankful, however the knowledge that things may be unsaid between them permeated the air around him, leaving him feeling claustrophobic and on edge.

"Hey, umm," he coughed, once more drawing her attention before suddenly falling silent unsure of what to say. She eyed him warily yet patiently waiting for him to continue. "Are we okay?" he finally choked out. She stared at him blankly and he motioned to the discoloration decorating her arm.

She glanced down questioningly before a realization brought light to her eyes. "You mean are we alright after you betrayed me by drugging me and letting some unknown faceless goons drop me off into a forest where I had to battle through a simulation where my life was on the line for three days?" She asked blithely and he blanched at her words and wilted underneath the glare that she had directed his way.

"Yeah?" he answered her and nearly hit himself with how weak and questioning he sounded. 'Man up damn it, you are a shinobi.' He thought to himself before squaring his shoulders and waiting for her to tell him that their friendship was over.

A sudden laugh echoed throughout the empty store, full and hearty and so joyous that he felt his spirits lift as he watched her wipe small happy tears from her eyes. When she finally calmed from the joke that only she knew she turned her gaze back to him. "Inoichi," she started with a seriousness that belayed her earlier laughter. "I understand why you did what you did and I'm not upset with you about it. You were given an order and you did your duty. It's what shinobi do."

He gave a sigh of relief at her words before she continued in a now darker tone. "However that concoction tasted horrible and I'm not sure I can ever forgive you for ruining a perfectly good bottle of sake like that."

-xxxxx-

It was devastation. She was so discolored from the dirt and ash that she was sure her clothing would never be free from the stains. Once more she was knee high in the remains of her village, her home and haven, that had been so mercilessly razed to the ground. “Iruka,” she called, her voice muffled by the fabric she had tied over her lower face to provide some protection from the errant soot. “I’m looking specifically for anything medical related, if you see anything on your side let me know.” 

Her companion spared her a quick nod before resuming his search, today they were scouring the burned remains of the hokage tower, trying to find any useful scrolls that were once kept safely in a personal library that was under the building. 

They didn’t have long, it was only a quick trip back to the wreckage of the village for supply gathering but Sakura was determined to bring some materials back to the front with her to help teach new medics. 

Shifting more charred planks to the side, and a heavy portion of the once sealed door, she spied a small chest further in the room. It had remained relatively untouched, which whispered tantalizing secrets to her and sang of promise. Knowing Tsunade this would obviously be where her best techniques were sure to be. 

She tiptoed further into the dark room, her protective goggles causing annoying glares in the barely there sunlight. Iruka was outside the door, shuffling through old burned stacks of foreign dignitaries, fruitlessly searching for new allies.

“Haruno,” she heard the call of warning but gave it no attention, her sight focused on the box peeking out from under the rubble. The remains of the building groaned as she shifted her way further into the room, eyes trained and hand reaching. 

A crash echoed close by, followed quickly by Iruka’s voice frantically calling for her but she was determined. The thrice damned chest had her captivated like a siren's call. 

Her fingers closed around the wooden container, ripping it from its hollow as she bolted back through the room, the groaning of the still standing wooden structure moving to a crescendo as she dived through the collapsing doorway, tucking the box towards her body and coming to a rolling stop in the soot and rubble. 

“I hope that was worth it,” Iruka stated, offering her a hand up and giving her a look that fully screamed he was getting ready to start in on an academy lecture about being more aware of her surroundings. 

Sakura ripped down her improvised mask and paid him no mind, having grown used to his teacher tendencies that he wore draped around himself like a well worn cloak. It was who he was and it would always follow him like a shadow, she didn’t mind it honestly, she knew she was the same when it came to spouting off knowledge. 

Instead she felt for the lid of the offending chest, finding the latch broken from the whole ordeal but was able to easily pry the lid off with a touch of her chakra infused strength. 

It wasn’t full of scrolls of medical jutsu, nothing even close. Instead it took her a few moments of piecing together the drawings and obstinately ignoring the lewd doodles towards the edges of the loose unrolled scrolls to fully understand what she was looking at. 

A plan was falling into place in her mind, something dangerous and crazy and entirely a last ditch effort, but a plan nonetheless.

She felt a blinding smile split her face as she looked into the questioning gaze or her companion. “Oh, I believe it entirely was.”

-xxxxx-

"This her?" questioned a man with exceptionally long white hair as soon as she entered the great doors to the Hokage's office. Sakura fixed him with a glare at the unbelieving tone he used. "Oh ho ho," he chuckled at her look before continuing "Never mind, I can clearly see the similarities now. You have a glare that could easily rival Tsunade-hime's there." 

As he finished she focused her attention on Sarutobi waiting for him to tell her why she was summoned. There were no introductions, and for that she was grateful, he had obviously been informed of who she was and thus would know she knew of him. Nonetheless she was supremely relieved to see Jiraiya there, his knowledge of fuinjutsu was impressive and he always managed to bring a sense of levity to the situation at hand.

Hiruzen calmly cleared his throat, a habit that she learned meant he was wishing he had his pipe, before starting the meeting. "I've already briefed Jiraiya on the particulars and we were just discussing the plausibility of your theory on how you came to be here when you came in."

"It certainly seems possible, and crazier has happened," the toad sage started before he leaned in "but first I need to see what you've got hidden underneath that shirt of yours." He finished, grinning in an overly lecherous way and she resisted the very strong temptation to punch him in his smug face.

She gave a soft grumble about perverted old men and peeled her shirt up and off, leaving her in her chest bindings, feeling uncomfortable but glad her small size was easily covered by the cloth.

Jiraiya's ridiculously large frame crossed the room in two strides and suddenly he was eye level with the pattern tattooed on her torso, fingers almost tracing the lines in a reverent manner. "This is beautifully done, every line is spaced correctly and all of the intersections are neat. This must have taken forever to do yourself" she found her cheeks flushing a bit at the compliments while nodding to his assessment.

"It took a while to gather the ink, and even longer to store enough chakra within it to make the seal viable." Her heart felt a sudden slash of pain at the thought of Sai giving up some of his ink for her. Filing away the stirrings of a plan to make sure he was well taken care of she continued. "Honestly it was only ready for about a week before the final battle."

There was no declaration that it had been the final battle really, no grandstanding from either side but she and almost everyone else knew that after two years and countless losses they simply didn't have the military force to hold up against Madara any longer.

She still had doubts that he had ever been Madara but he never revealed himself to be anyone else.

She was ripped from her thoughts as the sage leaned away from her quickly, his wooden geta meeting the floor with a clack that echoed off the high ceilings. His brow was furrowed thoughtfully and he gestured to the lilac diamond on her forehead. The seal was still fresh, having just barely reformed a scant week before, and nowhere near full. 

"It's obvious that you can store chakra correctly, and I see nothing wrong with the seal work either. Unless I know what the other jutsu was I can't help you much, can you tell me anything about it?" he asked, making himself comfortable by sitting on a clear spot on top of Sarutobi's desk, childishly swinging his sandaled feet back and forth while pointedly ignoring the incredulous looks shot towards him by both her and the Hokage.

She thought back, placing herself within the war torn landscape that had been that epic battle. "It was some sort of dodging or displacing technique, you would think that you could land a hit on him but then you would miss. It wasn't that he was suddenly not there, it was more like you would just pass right on through him. None of us knew what it was nor had we seen it before." she said, forcing herself to remember those next final moments.

"I used the hiraishin seal to block a hit that was sure to land on Naruto and when I got there I felt an impact on my back, not like some attack but like someone ran into me. I looked down and Naruto's arm was passing through me like it would do on Madara, there was a bright light and I woke up here." She finished shrugging her shoulders, she had come to terms with what had happened, even without knowing the exact how. 

"But that's not why you're here." she stated attempting to direct the conversation to a different matter.

He grinned at her before having the audacity to feign embarrassment. "Well no it's not, but I can't pass up a good puzzle, or a good reason to get a girl's shirt off." she fumed at his words but chose to fix him with a frosty glare in lieu of reprimand.

Sarutobi finally decided to interject, sensing the new hostile environment. "She is correct, I asked you here to help reinforce the seal on Kushina as well as develop a new sufficient seal for her eventual child. Sakura informed me that the nine tails was released during her childbirth." he concluded, allowing the information to seep into the now stunned toad sage.

The swinging legs slowed to a standstill as she watched the whiteness take over his face, all humor now wiped clear and an unbelieving seriousness now took over the giant of a man. She watched him fold those stupidly long legs up onto the desk, (which, let's be honest she was really struggling with the disrespect from the action of sitting there in general but more important matters were at hand) and lean his elbows on his knees, giving her his undivided attention. 

Despite the sannin's now shell shocked appearance Sakura felt a subtle weight lift, he was a master with seal theory and technique and with his help they would surely find an answer. She grabbed a spare scroll from the Hokage's desk and snatched one of his pens and started slowly drawing what she could remember of the design that would occasionally be visible on Naruto's stomach. As she meticulously drew the swirls she began to speak. "I know you helped develop the seal for Naruto in my timeline and I mostly remember what it looks like but I'm hoping with your help and with more planning and knowledge of what happened we can make something more effective, and hopefully save Kushina's in case it happens again." As she finished speaking she slid the now completed paper towards the white haired man, his eyes hungry and grave as they took in the inked lines.

"This is definitely Minato's work, he's taken to basing his seals on Uzumaki techniques." Jiraiya concluded before swiftly standing from his folded position on Hiruzen's large desk. As he stalked towards the door she felt worry settled deep within her bones, what if he had decided not to help after all?

"Where are you going?" she called after him as the heavy door swung open, small tremors of indignation welling up in her voice. Just moments before she was feeling light hearted, the depression that had lingered with her finally clearing at the mere thought of accomplishing something other than getting into ANBU. They were finally making progress, actually setting plans into place to avoid the Kyuubi massacre and her key to that was walking out the door.

He turned back, determined eyes locking with hers. "Whirlpool. I need to do some research." he said with such seriousness and lacking any of the lecherous tendencies he used when normally saying that word that she felt herself smile.

As she watched the red haori disappear from sight she felt her heart soar, her biggest obstacle was well on its way to being taken care of.

-xxxxx-

The wind was rustling the trees as she broke from her meditation. After having successfully created the Byakugō no In once she found that it was easier to reserve chakra into it than before. While she wouldn't be able to use the benefits of the seal for some time she could already feel her reservoir filling back up.

She gave a cat-like stretch unfolding herself from her seated position on the ground and tugged uselessly at the high necked collar of her new uniform. It still had the uncomfortable crispness of new clothing that had yet to be broken in and the molded chestplate still felt awkward against her even though it was designed to fit seamlessly.

She had been meditating to pass the time while waiting for the members of her new team to appear yet the windy day kept falsely leading her to believe her companions had arrived. She pivoted as she felt a presence behind her, her gaze landing on a slim woman with bluish black hair and a feline mask strapped to her face.

The other ANBU agent seemed to be content to wait silently so Sakura felt no need to make small talk or do anything more than give a small nod in response to the nod of greeting she received. Sakura found herself taking long glances at the kunoichi, shuffling through her memories to see if she had met her before. She had very noticeable earrings, pearls the same vivid red color of fresh blood and she wondered if they were stained or had always been that shade.

Her scrutiny was interrupted once more by the remaining two members of her group arriving. The first was a male with a visage of inverted colors where the base was black and the markings white and in the style similar to a frog. Next was the tall crane masked man who had delivered messages to her before.

He was the one to step forward, and she recalled her paperwork saying he was her squad captain. Long, almost bony fingers reached up to pull the disguise off of his face in one quick motion and she was met with a man she couldn't recognize. His face was full of sharp features, broken up by a long bang of brown hair covering the right side of his face and he spoke with a smooth voice that was very calming. "Good morning my name is Kisuke Maboroshi, and I will be the leader of this squad. My specialties include espionage and tracking as well as trap use."

The other male took his turn and stepped forward as he removed the dark mask that matched his equally dark blade; she easily recognized him by the rippled welted scar that tore across his left cheek and over his nose. Although he was much younger than what she was used to, his tone was still the deep baritone she remembered from the many times they had interacted when he was Tsunade's bodyguard. "I am Raido Namiashi. I am proficient in poisons and kenjutsu. I function mostly as an assassin" as he finished Sakura was honestly surprised, she had never known that about him but supposed that the best way to protect an official from possible assassinations was to have one on the payroll.

As she readied herself to move forward the woman swiftly took her place. Removing the cat shaped porcelain and revealing a doll-like face. Her steely eyes were at total odds with her soft appearance and Sakura felt the stirrings of distrust growing within her. With the way the woman looked at her she felt as if something about her was inherently off. "I'm Hinoto," she spoke with clipped tones and offered no last name, "I specialize in stealth and the Bo staff." Her bluish hair was kept tied up in a high tail that swept her mid back as she stepped back and focused those hard eyes on Sakura.

She suddenly felt small within this circle of ANBU who had certainly earned their place more honorably than she had, like she was a fake and only playing ninja like a little girl. She stood in uniform, a regulation tanto strapped to her back and arm mildly sore from the new swirl that decorated the skin yet she was little more than a farce in a costume. Her raccoon mask may have been too snug against her face but she suddenly felt an overwhelming connection to it, something she could hide behind that wouldn't reveal her for the counterfeit agent she felt so very deep in her bones.

'You are one of them now, whether you believe it or not. Now get over yourself and act like it.' the thought bounced and echoed around her head in a voice eerily similar to the one she once called Inner Sakura so very long ago. However her inner self had been absent for many years now.

They were staring now, eyes questioning, yet she still stood masked, struggling to find the words to describe herself. What was her specialty? What was she good at? She could heal and she could punch things yet it suddenly felt like it wasn't enough. She took a deep breath and steeled her resolve finally speaking. "My name is Sakura Unmeiko, I will be your medic and I am best with close combat." They seemed satisfied with her answer and Kisuke gave a quick nod.

"Right, now that we have introduced ourselves I want to start this training session by going over a few formations." he announced followed by a chorus of 'Yes Taichou'

"Welcome to Team Crane"

-xxxxx-

"Good job Rin, just like that," Sakura commented as she coached the brunette on how to heal the burn that ran the length of her calf. Although she had been feeling stretched thin between the hospital and her duties with ANBU she still tried her hardest to make time for her student. One of the easiest ways she had found to do so was to drop by Rins home on her way home from training sessions with her team so that the girl could practice her jutsu healing Sakura's wounds.

Sakura had quickly discovered that Rin had known the basics, at least to the point that most of the other nurses in the hospital knew however the girl lacked a certain finesse that Tsunade would never have deemed acceptable and Sakura was confident she could one day teach her all she knew.

The burn that they had currently been working on was from a particularly challenging two on two session in which she managed to step into one of Kisuke's traps that resulted in a tongue of fire licking up her calf for a short moment. It had been just enough to destroy her uniform boots (although she wasn't too bent out of shape about that, now she had an excuse to wear her broken-in combat pair) and inflict second degree burns. It had been a few weeks since the creation of Team Crane and they had only completed one mission, a delivery of a very important scroll to Suna, but they had certainly trained excessively.

Kisuke would always have some new formation to try, or it would be a spar that ranged anywhere from one-on-one to three-on-one. Some days they would have teamwork exercises where they would face off another team in its entirety and she always found that times that they would be pitted against Minato and Choza's team to be her favorite times. It reminded her of a time when she was a young genin of Team 7 in a way that made her equally excited and morose.

A feeling that was akin to a small pinch drew her from her reverie as she looked down towards her leg where Rin's hands were glowing green in an attempt to heal the damage. "Rin," she started waiting until the girl's attention was brought back to her. "You need to think of it less like stitching someone back together. Stitching is all hard edges and tugging, think of it more like you are melding the edges back together. Use your chakra to encourage the flesh to smoothly knit and you will find far less scarring." As she finished the brunette gave her a nod in acceptance and tried again, this time taking her lesson to heart as Sakura could hardly feel the healing chakra.

A sharp tap at the bedroom window drew both females' attention and Sakura caught sight of the white frog markings from Raido's mask and quickly made to excuse herself. Taking care to slide the window open she trekked her way to the roof where he was now waiting in full gear. "We have a mission, pack for travel and meet at the Hokage's office" as always he was direct and to the point before disappearing into the darkness.

Sakura retreated back down to the bedroom, taking a few moments to fully heal her leg so that Rin could see and learn from it. "Rin I need to head out, I've got a mission." she was once again startled by the maturity her protege showed when she nodded willingly, understanding that this was the way things were.

"I'll have kaa-san pack up your dinner." the girl replied before Sakura shook her head and told her no need. Sakura felt a small smile pull her lips, thinking about all of the bonds she was making in this time, this place that was so very far away from home yet so close.

This time she left from the front door, taking time to say farewell to Rin's parents, who had almost taken her in like a second daughter despite her age, before rushing home and grabbing one of her premade med packs and tossing it into a stocked backpack. Her trusted boots replaced the half charred remains of her standard pair and she took the time to quickly grab both a hood and temporary hair dye, unsure of what she had time for.

The city lights flew by like stars as she dashed from rooftop to rooftop and she was suddenly struck with how much of a connection she now felt to this village that once felt so alien. The moment she had truly understood where she was she gave up all pretenses of ever returning to her time, yet it had taken until just now that she really felt at home. She had a home now, and she was leaving on a mission to protect that home and it struck her that even after so many weeks training as ANBU she finally felt as if she was one too.

Yet all of those feelings of acceptance and belonging rushed out of her like a great flood the second she was standing in Sarutobi's office and he showed her the picture of the missing nin they were being sent out to take care of.

-xxxxx-

They weren't moving fast enough.

They had received word that a distress flare had been seen from the location of her team and they were just not moving fast enough. 

They were never fast enough. 

Sakura felt tree branches break beneath her as she jumped with too much force, the brittle drought ridden wood cracking from excess chakra being pushed into them with abandon, but she couldn't bring herself to care. All she knew was something had gone horribly wrong and she was too far away. She was praying to Kami-sama, a broken repeating mantra in her head, that they wouldn't be too late.

But when they got close enough to hear the agonizing cries and moans from the injured she knew that that wish just would not be granted. They broke through the tree line, a squad of combat and medic nins rested and ready to join the fray, yet there was no battle to join. There was only visceral death littering the landscape and she choked down a sob at the sight.

She felt like the world dropped out from beneath her when she spotted strands of pale blond hair and rushed towards the prone body it belonged to. "No" she sobbed as she dropped to her knees and started pumping healing chakra into a rapidly cooling body. "No" she whispered again, repeating it over and over like a siren song, eyes focusing on a glinting ninja wire slicing through Ino's slim neck. A feature she had always been so proud of.

The others voices were muddled, a quiet cacophony of names and resignation of death. A name cut through her grief struck haze and she turned towards the nin citing a time of death for Choji, the kind giant's body resembling a pin cushion littered with kunai, his armor having been destroyed long ago. She felt herself spiral into confusion, how could this happen. How could a platoon of fifteen shinobi be destroyed in such a way? They knew the enemy was strong but this was unthinkable.

" Haruno-san," she could hear the call, yet didn't want to respond. She wanted to stay here with her closest friend until she came back to her, yet she was the leader of the squad and knew it wasn't something they could allow to happen. “Haruno!” Giving the unnaturally pale blond one last longing look she turned to the owner of the voice. "We've got a live one!" Her feet were moving in sync with her now quickly beating heart and a happy sob gurgled its way from her lips as she came across a very alive Shikamaru, a very treatable but ugly wound to his abdomen and exhaustion seeming to be his only injuries.

She skid to her knees, hands already glowing and roaming his body for any unseen wounds and she could feel her heartbreak once again at the look of sheer devastation that he fixed her with. He pointed towards a decapitated body that lay to his side, a blade she knew he was clumsy with between them. "I got him Sakura," he said, his voice drained and broken.

She took in the green hair, short and close to the unattached head and the headband with the symbol for water cleanly slashed through easily recognizing him as Nuru, a missing nin with the ability to disrupt the ability to use chakra within an area. The pieces of the puzzle fell together for her as she realized that it had been an ambush they had seen before. The shinobi alliance forces would be led into a small skirmish only to be overwhelmed with opposing forces and a mysterious man who made all jutsu ineffective.

They had been led into a slaughter, and it had happened many times before.

" I got him," he repeated, pulling her attention back to his tired eyes. She gave him a watery smile and nodded. They had achieved a small victory, but as she slid her eyes back to her patient's dead teammates she couldn't help but wonder at what cost.

-xxxxx-

She knew she had been uncharacteristically stoic since they had received mission orders yet she refused to crack. To her teammates this may have been a simple target but to her this was a vendetta, her own personal revenge for a crime yet uncommitted. 

After her squadron had been dismissed from the briefing she found herself hanging behind, "Are you sure we can handle this?" She had asked the Hokage, doubtful they could handle the monster that killed so many of her comrades.

His reply had been simple “You told me yourself what he is capable of, it’s best that we handle him quickly.” In short, they had too. Information on missing nin was always hard to come by and they had to take action when they could.

It was because of this they were quickly speeding towards one of the small villages on the border of fire well known for its tourism and women of the night. Nuru was freshly defected and had been reported heading that way so they were on a short time table. As the trees started to thin Sakura quickly pulled her chakra inward, as did the rest of her team, leaving a subtle amount to mimic a common civilian. A signal was flashed from Kisuke and they had all dropped to the ground before he gave one last run through of the plan while handing out small comm units.

"Alright, we know he can neutralize chakra so we need to surprise him. Cat, Raccoon, I want both of you to pose as prostitutes at different bars, as soon as you spot him let us know and we will meet there." he paused to wait for questions yet only received nods of affirmation. "Once you have eyes on him I want you to get him alone, we don't need any civilians hurt during this. I want you to lead him back to the inn, and we will take care of him there." As he finished Sakura started digging through her pack, dragging out a short yukata she had tightly rolled up for missions such as these and grabbing the black dye.

"Wait," the word hung in the now still air, her eyes turned questioningly towards Raido and he pointed to her hair "leave it." Seeing that her captain agreed she quickly excused herself only to reappear moments later tugging uselessly on a purposefully badly tied yukata that was far too short to be appropriate. She ran nervous fingers through her hair in an attempt to brush it into place and watched as Hinoto came back from the forest with her long hair down and wearing a sultry dress that hugged curves in a way that Sakura would have once dreamed she could pull off.

Leaving their packs with the remaining two members of the team, both kunoichi took off towards the tourist town in different directions.

-xxxxx-

It had been surprisingly easy to find him considering his glassy eyed face was forever seared into her memory. His green hair was longer and pulled into some sort of topknot and his face was considerably younger, handsome even. She couldn't bring herself to approach him, fearing that her temper would get the best of her so she settled herself into a stool across the way sending him hopefully sultry looks whenever she caught his eye.

He was overly arrogant as he strode towards her, his mannerisms doing little to conceal that he believed himself to be a god, and a newly free one at that. The scratch through his headband looked jagged and fresh and she found herself hoping that his bloodline wasn't nearly as developed as it was in the future.

He slid himself next to her and she did her best to reign in any disgust at the stench of sake wafting around him. "I can't say I've ever seen hair that color before." She gave a gentle humm at the pick up line, doing her best to stay calm and not blow her cover, but found her resolve wavering as an overly friendly hand found its way to her bare leg.

"The name is Nuru, care to tell me yours."

She looked up from her drink, careful to catch his gaze "Sakura Haruno," the name tumbled from her lips like a caress and even though it was to an enemy and someone she was hoping to kill it still felt so freeing to finally say her true name. Like she was reclaiming a part of her that had been long lost.

His hand slithered further upward, stopping just below the hem of her skirt and she let her own hand twitch the slightest bit. "That's a very fitting name, but I'm sure you get that a lot." he continued and she forced a girlish giggle, something that she suddenly felt dirty inside doing. There was a sudden clamor of some bar fight that she was sure one of her team had started and as he turned to look towards it she stilled her hands from reaching up and snapping his smug neck.

She held herself back, knowing that those were not her orders and drew his attention back to her using the commotion to further the mission. "Do you mind if we go somewhere quieter?" she asked and he answered her with a hungry smile before holding out a hand for her to use to get off of the tall stool. He was trying to be charming and it made her want to stab him in the eye with a toothpick, because deep down she knew that if he wasn't the enemy, Ino would have loved him. He had the kind of eyes she would have gone on and on about on one of their lunch dates and Sakura forced herself to quash the small rebellion that once more told her to end this now.

He led them toward the inn and she tried to do her best to act unsure while she followed him up the creaking stairs towards a surprisingly clean room. Gathering all of her courage she pushed him towards the door he had just closed, initiating what she hoped to be a searing kiss. He in turn reciprocated with vigor, picking up her light form and carrying both of them towards the bed.

Breathe in. 

Breath out. 

She wasn’t experienced in this. With everything happening on the battlefield no one really had time to practice kissing. 

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

And the reality was in her new timeline everyone felt untouchable, they were all too scarred into her memory as their adult selves and the age difference just made the entire situation uncomfortable. Plus she wasn’t exactly full of free time to devote to dating. 

Breathe in. 

Breathe out. 

She felt dirty inside, like she was betraying Ino's memory. It may have been to lure him into a situation where she could end him but the simple act of making out with her best friend's murderer sent nauseating shivers down her spine. 

Breathe in. 

She pulled back from the embrace, taking a moment to quell her roiling stomach and give the man in front of her a coyish look.

Breathe out.

He leaned his head down, capturing the hollow of her neck with his lips and she couldn't bring herself to wait for her team any longer. It was light a lightning bolt of disgust had taken over her from.

She quickly channeled enough chakra to create a tiny scapple and poised it at the back of his neck before she was roughly thrown across the room, her head slamming into the wall with enough force that momentarily disoriented her.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Nuru was suddenly across the room, fingers twisting into unknown hand signs before she felt an odd shimmer in the air and realized he had effectively cut off access to her chakra. 

"I should have known." he grumbled, his voice devoid of any charm. “You are all muscle, real women are softer” Gone was the suave twenty something who was looking for a night of fun, in his place stood a warrior at the ready who now had a leg up on her.

She refused to reply, she didn’t want to waste her breath on the man if possible, Ino’s voice whispering taunts about how he wouldn’t know what a real woman was anyway echoing in her mind. Like a ghost haunting her, pushing her along this path she’s decided to walk down.

Breathe in.

She immediately knew she had chosen poorly, she should have waited for her team and that if she managed to survive this she was going to be in serious trouble with her taichou, yet she couldn't shake the thought of revenge, that this was her fight.

This was something for her and her only.

Breathe out.

And now she had what she wanted, just her and him. He started towards her and she was on her feet in a second, the lingering disorientation from the impact to the wall gone and her hand reaching for a senbon hidden in the back folds of her obi. He swung for her and she easily dodged, stepping to the side and landing a hit in his ribs that still caused a crack without her chakra.

He turned and ground out some insult to her while grabbing something from the pocket of his pants. A glinting wire was now stretched between his fists and she felt herself go numb. 

Breathe in.

A flash of Ino's body with the thin red line dripping ruby droplets took over her vision and she launched herself towards him full of rage. 

She vaguely registered in the back of her mind that she was hyperventilating again.

Breathe in.

She was swinging uncontrollably, a being of pure anger and no thought but she couldn't find it in herself to think rationally. In the fray she vaguely recognized her senbon being knocked free, the tiniest of clatter echoing in the dimly lit room.

She felt the wire slice into her fingers as she managed to grab it and throw it across the room leaving him weaponless. She knew she was fighting primal-ly, all training long gone and replaced by fury, blood splattering the walls from the deep cuts inflicted upon herself with every swing. He was a close range fighter as well and due to her erratic swing had finally managed to knock her to the ground.

Breathe in.

Strong fingers were around her neck, pressing down and his knees were on her bleeding hands. His weight distributed in a way that suddenly she felt small and frail. Gone was the fire and rage, and she wondered where her team was, and if they even knew where she had gone. 

Breathe in?

Why couldn’t she breathe in?

She was supposed to have a tail, they were supposed to be here by now.

Frantic thoughts rushed through her head as the air started to leave her lungs. She was already struggling to breathe through her panic before and had lost precious moments of air to begin with.

She was spiraling, her mind racing and latching on to a single focusing thought.

Hypoxia: a state in which oxygen is not available in sufficient amounts at the tissue level to maintain adequate homeostasis

She finally wrangled a hand free, using the blood leaking from the wire wounds on her fingers as a lubricant to slide it from under his hard knee and grasped desperately for anything within reach. She felt the sharp edge of her senbon nick an already punished finger and grasped it like a lifeline, swinging it up and plunging it deep within the green haired shinobi's unprotected neck.

She pulled it free as the darkness danced at the edges of her vision, deep crimson from his carotid artery spraying the sheets of the bed, and sunk it into the fleshy part of his throat two, three more times.

His gaze so full of hatred swiftly turned to one of shock, and she watched as life drained from them while his blood dripped on her face. Unclenching his fingers she pushed him off of her and slid back until she hit the bed. 

Breathe out.

The moment she felt her blood replenishing its desperately sought after oxygen her breaths turned to sobs. Great mournful things that she knew Ino would have called ugly crying. She was shaking from fear and the adrenaline, relief flowing down and over her face with the tears that just wouldn’t stop.

She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, momentarily noticing the rips in her yukata sleeves, the blood running down her arms from the cuts that they revealed, but paying them no mind. Thundering steps came running down the hall and the door was thrown inward, her team coming in at the ready yet she didn't react.

Breathe in.

Instead she stared at the corpse in front of her and let the tears fall. She stood and stumbled towards the glinting wire on the ground, taking the wooden handles and wordlessly winding it up into a small bunch. She would burn the weapon that had been ingrained into her mind for well over a year on her own time, a caricature of a funeral she hadn’t been allowed to have for Ino. 

Turning to her team with now silent tears she gave a nod. “Mission complete,” the words came from her, graveled and whispered from the bruising and force he had used on her throat.

Breathe out.

She had gotten her revenge.

Chapter Text

We Both Matter, Don't We?

"It won't channel chakra like it used to, but it should still be good for combat." Sakura told her companion, watching as he gently handled the blade he hadn't used since he was a teen. She felt her grin stretch across her cheeks in pride at the astonished look in her sensei's uncovered gray eye. He was honestly shocked and she gave the blond haired nin across the table a victory smile. They were at Ichiraku celebrating Kakashi's birthday, even though he hadn't known it when they arrived.

Sensing his mounting confusion the pinkette decided to elaborate on the ordeal. "Remember when you asked Naruto and I to help you move and then disappeared all day to make us do the work by ourselves?" she asked, free of any malice having grown used to and fond of her silver haired sensei's antics long ago. At his small nod she continued her tale "Well one of Naruto's clones knocked a pile of things over and this fell out of a box."

Her energetic partner in crime interjected, his voice overly loud in excitement. "Yeah, and Sakura remembered it from your old team picture so we figured we could have it fixed for you for your birthday!" Naruto finished before giving a quick shout for another order of ramen, plopping his finished one onto a growing pile of porcelain bowls.

Kakashi seemed to finally shake himself from the small state of reverie he had fallen into, fingers gingerly running down the now solid edge and coming away with a tiny drop of ruby blood to attest to the sharpness of the now complete blade. "How did you know when my birthday was?" he questioned her and she replied with nothing more than a sly smile, unwilling to admit that it was Pakkun who had told her and happy she hadn't revealed to Naruto how she had found out.

Keeping the shattered tanto hidden and finding someone who could actually repair it had been difficult, yet keeping Naruto silent had been near heroic. She looked at her two teammates, briefly sad that both Sai and Yamato couldn't join them, and knew that this moment would be something she could cherish forever.

Naruto was being himself in such a quintessential way that she felt the stirrings of that emotion that was more than friendship swiveling around deep in her heart. It had been happening more and more with a disturbing forcefulness ever since he had returned from his training with Jiraiya, yet she pushed them aside, unwilling to admit to herself the truth.

She had been so happy that the three of them had a break from missions for Kakashi's birthday that she knew she had to do something to celebrate, even if they had tricked him into coming. Next to her Kakashi was looking equal parts wistful and forlorn, as well as openly touched as he held the repaired sword for the first time since that fateful mission that changed his life so completely and she was almost overwhelmed at the depth of emotion he was willing to show.

Her picture-esque moment was shattered when Naruto suddenly moaned that he had left his wallet at home. She turned to him with an incredulous look, angry that she had already reminded him beforehand to bring his frog purse, before turning towards her other companion to ask if he had any money.

She was met with an empty seat and an empty bowl that just moments ago had been full as Kakashi was already down the road, the famed Hatake Tanto now strapped to his hip and gleaming in the midday sun so brightly it almost seemed white.

-xxxxx-

She took another bite of the delicious onigiri that Kushina had insisted she take for lunch, the Uzumaki had been exceedingly chipper as of late. Team Minato had been sent out on a long but not inherently dangerous mission and Sakura had found herself spending her time usually reserved for Rin's training with the vibrant red head. It had been nearing five months in the past and the pinkettes life had been firmly entwined with team Minato in a way that she was wholly thankful for.

Having achieved her short term goal of joining ANBU and integrating fully with her team she found that she had just the slightest bit more free time, which she spent either with Inoichi and his team or with her student and her team. Thankfully due to her increasingly common drop ins during training time Kakashi's once unbearably frosty unpleasantness towards her warmed into indifference. Instead of outright glaring at her with suspicion he seemed to finally put his questions to rest and she was pleased to note that when he and Obito traded verbal barbs they never seemed to cut to the quick anymore.

Sakura gave a tiny ghost of a smile at the thought of her future sensei, he would probably never be the man she knew but he was making small steps towards not being the insufferable ass she had heard about in stories.

The quick shuffling of feet outside the cafeteria caught her attention but she hadn't heard any announcement saying she had been needed so she did her best to ignore it and finish scarfing down her meal. While she was slowly gaining respect from the other nurses and med-nin she hadn't yet advanced in the ranks and found herself struggling with the concept of not being called first in dire situations.

She heard another set of feet this time running full tilt through the halls, sandals slapping into tiles and echoing down the halls like cracks that were accompanied with sobs and screams of her name. Easily recognizing them as belonging to her brunette student Sakura quickly rushed from the room to meet her. As soon as the girl found her she seemed to deflate, her energy sapped and brown orbs unfocused. Her clothes were ripped in places, as if they'd been snagged on trees and she didn't seem to care and there was a worrying trickle of blood dripping down the left side of her face.

Sakura reached for the girl, keeping her hands well within view and grabbed her quaking shoulders and tried to focus frantic eyes. "Rin, what's happened?" The teens tremors stilled for a moment, grief breaking through the panicked haze.

"Kakashi," she sobbed before reigning the tears in. "Kakashi's been hurt really bad." she sniffled as she finished and Sakura felt the world fall out from beneath her feet, instant images of an older version of the silver haired nin lying motionless with lifeless eyes flooding her mind. She could almost feel the breeze on her face and smell the metallic tang of the blood that was dripping from his sharingan before she shook herself free of the unwanted memory.

Gripping Rin's shoulder harder to stop her now quivering hands she gave the girl a resolute nod. "Take me to him." The girl in question calmed somewhat, confident that the pink haired woman could heal all wounds.

They were rushing through the halls towards the emergency section of the hospital. She passed an exhausted and beat up Minato and Obito waiting anxiously in the uncomfortable plastic chairs, swearing to herself that once she was finished with the Hatake she would be checking up on the two as well as Rin. Minato gave her a look that screamed desperation, his eyes pleading her to fix the current situation and for a moment glinting to her as if she were his sole savior in the whole world.

As she and Rin broke through the doors she got a good look at Kakashi and felt her breath catch at how pale he was. A sheen of sweat glistened from his forehead and a slash to his chest was oozing dark blood that had long since stained his blue and gray shirt. A team of medics were already fussing about taking vitals and chattering about this or that, tossing theories back and forth.

One word cut the air and froze Sakura in her spot. "Poison"

Before she knew it she was scrubbing her hands clean with such forcefulness she was sure they were several shades pinker than usual and pushing her way past the nurses towards the teens prone form, ignoring any protests. Her hands were lit bright green, much brighter than needed as she recklessly pumped chakra through her once sensei in a rapid search for what was causing the problem.

She could feel her chakra winding through him, twisting and searching looking for the culprit for her friend's ails. There was a frenzied heart beat and she wasn't sure if it was hers or his but as soon as she found an inky blackness where it didn't belong everything went still.

The viscous globules attacking the one eyed boy were familiar in the way that an old classmate's face was recognizable years after you stopped seeing them and she racked her brain for an answer.

The medical symptoms clicked into place like pieces of a puzzle and the name Sasori floated to the forefront of her mind. It wasn't nearly as advanced or polished as when she dealt with it before but she was still sure that even now medics wouldn't know how to combat it.

Giving a great huff she pulled her hands away from the prone boy's chest and quickly tied her hair back in a band she slipped from her wrist. "I've dealt with this kind of poison before, but the antidote will take too long. We will need to extract as much as possible." she instructed, using the Tsunade tone of voice that inspired instant cooperation.

There was a distinct lack of movement at her words and she felt rage bubbling within her stomach when she looked up to a sea of confused expressions and stilled bodies. "Why is no one moving?" she bit out angrily and glaring at the motionless hospital crew.

"Unmeiko," called one of the older medics, a talented male who she hadn't known before arriving in the past. "I don't know what you are talking about, but we need to bring his fever down and heal the chest wound before we do anything about this poison."

The room seemed to tilt as his words hit her, Tsunade must not have developed the poison removal technique yet. She refused to let her friend die simply because she knew the way to save him but couldn't do so. Her mind was abuzz with thoughts, but one stood out most. Even if her secret was found out she just couldn't lose Kakashi now. She gave a low growl in frustration, angered at the very situation before snapping at her student. "Rin," she started, making sure to have her full attention. "I need two large bowls, one with sterile water."

Her student nodded and gave a quick "Yes shishou" before fleeing the room to provide the necessary materials. Sakura hoped that one day Tsunade would forgive her for essentially laying claim to what had been one of her best contributions to the medical world. That is if she can’t find a way to convince others that it was Tsunade’s skill in the first place. Sakura forced herself into taking a calming breath before focusing on the weeping chest wound, she knew she had been unfairly gruff towards her colleagues but the gravity of the situation called for it.

“Just watch,” she ground out through clenched teeth, still forcing her temper back into its ever shaky cage.

By the time Rin returned with the asked for items Sakura had managed to heal most of his chest while convincing a few medics to secure the unconscious boy's limbs to the table, unwilling to chance him waking up and jerking while she was performing the procedure.

Taking the faintest of moments to make sure she had the attention of her now captive audience she dipped one hand into the bowl of water, molding her chakra so that she now held a sphere of the clear liquid within her palm. She slowly and precisely forced the orb into her patient's chest, encouraging the molecules to slide past each other before gathering a portion of the toxin within and drawing it back out.

Shocked gasps were heard around the room as she presented the ball of water, now with an inky blackness swirling about the middle. She allowed it to fall into the empty bowl with a splash before repeating the process several more times, instructing her way through it so that Rin, and by extension the rest of the medical staff in the room would understand the procedure.

Finally pulling the last of the poison from his chest Sakura gave the silver haired boy a wan smile, his complexion was still unbearably pale but she could tell he was walking further and further away from death's door by the minute.

Shaking a vague exhaustion from her mind she took in the now peaceful look on Hatake's face and her gaze found its way to the closed eyelid that she knew hid no sharingan. He had always been a formidable opponent before the slightly incompatible eye had been given to him and knew that over the months he had nearly reached his previous prowess but felt deep within her bones that the loss would permanently leave him hampered. Green orbs narrowed in determination at the boy and she swore to herself to find a solution.

Feeling the unwelcome malaise once more she let a stray thought flicker through her mind that perhaps she had been pushing it too far and was running on dry as something like this would have never caused her to feel so drained before. She stretched, attempting to relieve the sore muscles of her back from hunching over for so long and gave a great sigh of relief, never noticing that a particularly quiet and aloof nurse had slipped from the room. Looking from Kakashi to the stunned faces of her audience she couldn't help the thought that flitted through her mind.

'Well, so much for staying under the radar'

-xxxxx-

There was a light dusting of snow on the ground, something that wasn't common but not entirely unwelcome. It was late January and bound to be one of the coldest points of the year which for leaf village usually meant chilly temperatures and not much else. He tried not to focus on the far off laughter of two children attempting to make pitiful snow balls but found that the sound only brought a grin to his face. He turned to watch them, their squeals of joy fully capturing his attention, and gave a small chuckle at their overly bundled forms, an image of a blond haired little boy and a red headed little girl superimposing themselves upon the children. Shaking his head quickly he returned to his task.

As he entered the hospital he quickly checked in and started down a now well known pathway. "Minato," a voice exclaimed and he turned towards the owner, unsurprised to see Sakura in her new lab coat. "Are you here to see Kakashi?" she asked, quickly continuing on before he could give her an answer. "Of course you are, silly me. Hey I have something I need to talk to you about real quick. Come over here." he followed blindly, slightly astonished at her unnervingly upbeat attitude she was displaying, despite the concerningly dark bags under her eyes.

She led them to what he assumed was her new office and he decided that getting thrust into the role of one of the head medics was suiting her well. "Alright, what's with the secrecy?" he asked, confused as to what they couldn't discuss in the hallway.

The bright haired medic fidgeted briefly, a sign that he had begun to learn she was working up to something and he felt himself tense up. Was something wrong with Kakashi? He had already been in the hospital for a week and was recovering well. Was it the poison? Was she alright? Minato forced the worried thoughts from his head where they had been circling like sharks.

"I want to make Kakashi a new eye" Sakura finally blurted, spewing the words so quickly he almost had to ask her to repeat them. She waited for his reaction with a childlike hope gleaming from her beryl eyes.

"What?" was all he could reply, startled into near silence.

She fidgeted again, rubbing the pale rhombus on her forehead and began a slow pace behind her desk. "Well they gave me access to the labs finally and before I was sent…" she slowed as if thinking of her next words and he filed it away to think of later "home I was working on possibly re-growing body parts. I've been holding off because I knew how distrustful he was of me but after seeing him hurt and knowing that if he had both eyes still he probably could have avoided that hit I knew that I needed to do something." She paused her tirade and pacing as well before looking towards him with an intensity that nearly shook him to the core before taking a deep breath."What do you think?"

Minato felt the small smile that had been on his face most of the day split into a large grin. This had been the second best piece of news he had received today and thanked Kami that things were turning out so well. "I think that is amazing." he stated, full of pride for his friend, before fixing her worried face with a pointed look. "And he would be a fool to think otherwise."

She brightened instantly, and quickly gathered up some papers from her desk before rushing him out the door. "Alright, I need to go drop these off and then we can tell him. I'll meet you there." she called over her shoulder before taking off, a bounce in her step and he struggled to recall if he had ever seen her so at ease and happy before.

He found himself at his student's recovery room without realizing it, too caught up in the joy of an announcement from much earlier in the day, and eager to share the news with his team. Sliding open the door he was glad to find out that they were all already inside and cheerfully greeted them individually, too distracted to slide the door back shut.

"Wow Sensei, you look like the cat who caught the canary." Rin remarked from the side of Kakashi's bed where she was fussing with the pillows. The few minor scrapes from their ordeal had been healed long ago and her face was now blissfully blemish free as she fluffed one of the plush cushions and pushed a slightly irritated Hatake back onto the wedge she created.

Obito nodded his head in agreement. He sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, tilting it back and balancing on the remaining two legs. "Yeah, like scary happy, what's going on?" the bubbly Uchiha asked, leaning forward so that the chair landed with a loud crack that echoed off the tiled floor.

He looked at the three teens he had come so close to losing so many months ago, his gaze sweeping back over the silver haired nin and forced himself to not tell him about Sakura's newest project. They may have just been his genin team, and he their sensei but over the years they had grown into something much more. A family, and one that he was determined more than ever to keep by his side.

Minato tried to reign in his exuberance, he really did. Instead he found himself blurting out his news much in the same way the pinkette had dispensed of hers.

"I'm going to be a father!"

There were happy cheers and congratulations from the occupants of the room, Kakashi's being slightly subdued as he was not one to act in such a manner, but it was the clatter of a clipboard and a frightened gasp from behind him that drew his attention. Sakura stood in the still open doorway, eyes wide in fear and skin a sickly pale that had him immediately worried. Her entire being radiated with a fear that was so unlike the proud and excited woman he had left a few short minutes ago. "How far is she?" the green eyed medic asked in a trembling whisper, the words slipping from her lips like a shiver that he felt run up his spine.

Minato knew something was wrong, her overly happy mood from earlier had all but vanished but he felt himself compelled to answer the stuttered question. "We think two months. Why?" She was so visibly shaken by his words that he reached for her, intending to physically ground her with a hand on the shoulder but she took a small step back, further into the hallway and away from his words.

"Two months." she repeated to herself, the answer having obviously been one she didn't want to hear. He locked gazes with her, his full of questions and hers taking on a suddenly frantic haze as she bolted from the room without another word.

-xxxxx-

She was fraying. Splintering away with worries and questions and just could not hold herself together. Scenarios ran rampant through her troubled mind and she struggled to remain cognizant enough to make it to the tower.

She passed his guards, blatantly ignoring their calls to stop and forced the heavy wooden doors open. A genin team she didn't recognize jumped from the sudden slam of the wood against the walls and she felt a tinge of regret at the action. The Hokage quickly dismissed the shinobi without a word from her and as soon as she felt the seal of silence slither over the doors she finally let her mind stop working a mile a minute.

"We have a problem"

There was a shake to her voice and she despised herself for it. She hated how she suddenly crumbled and turned into a mewling kitten worse than her first weeks out of the academy.

"Sakura," Hiruzen called to her, his grandfatherly voice especially calm in an attempt to sooth the ravaging of her psyche. "Please, sit down and tell me what the problem is." She complied with the gentle request although his tones did nothing to placate her

She sagged into the comfortable chair, it's dark red plush gently hugging her and centering her back in the here and now. "Kushina Uzumaki is pregnant. Two months to be exact." she paused, allowing the information to fully settle its weight upon the hokage and grimaced at the shock that passed his wizened eyes. Unable to stay seated long, she jumped up and began pacing across his office, her feet following a path that was well known to her due to her frequent visits. "I don't understand how, I haven't done anything to their relationship but somehow our timeline just got shortened to six months." her tone shifted to an agitated growl at the last words, an agonized realization that she was not all knowing stirring deep within her stomach.

Sarutobi regarded her with more of a calm than she had mustered, the crows feet around his eyes creasing with thought. "But you have," he started and she found herself focusing on his steepled fingers rather than his face with some measure of guilt. "Before you informed me of what was to come I was ready to pass on my title with the signing of the treaty. Minato would have been overcome with preliminary work and wrought with grief over what the lost team was supposed to endure." he finished and she could almost feel the conclusion blanket the room.

"Instead he's happy. Happy with a full team that made it through the war mostly unscathed and not crawling underneath paperwork." she whispered, her form nearly crumpling with the realization of how she acted towards her friend. He had joyous news, some of the best news a man could ever deliver and she made it out to be the end of her world. Her feet traced their way back to the chair where she slumped in emotional exhaustion. She let her fear for the future jeopardize her life in the now. She gaped for a moment, attempting to find the words to describe what she had done before giving in and dropping her head in her hands in defeat.

She could hear Hiruzen rising from his seat, his movements so smooth that they defied his age and appearance and felt a gentle hand drop itself onto her shoulder in comfort. He didn't wait for her to look up at him, didn't expect her to and allowed her a moment of pity. "I imagine that Minato is feeling awfully confused." he stated, and she nearly snorted in derision at the comment. Of course he was confused. "Given that we are on a tighter schedule, and Jiraiya is unreachable right now I do believe that perhaps we should let him know the truth about you."

Her head snapped up at his words, unable to hide the incredulous look upon her face. He was the one to initially decide that the less people who knew the better. A small amount of weight seemed to lift itself from her at the coming realization that she would have another person she could be herself with. However as she looked him in the eyes and saw that damnable twinkle of wisdom she came upon a crushing realization. This was not merely some timely decision. Like everything this man did, this God of Shinobi, he had a plan behind his motives. A way for her to mend a bridge she nearly inadvertently burned.

A groan bubbled up from her constricted chest as she gave way to the question she was unwilling to ask. "You're going to make me tell him aren't you?"

Another noise of discontent found its way from her lips as a kindly smile stretched across his wizened face.

-xxxxx-

He had been incredibly willing to follow her back to her apartment after she found herself knocking on his door, contrite and radiating regret. "I have something I need to tell you. Can you come with me?" was a mumbled question that was answered with a slight nod and the yellow haired man slipping his sandals on. His entire being was muted as he followed her, a duller version of himself that was a silent specter on their journey.

She was dreading the following conversation but the slightly betrayed look that lingered on Minato's face when he had opened the door convinced her it was one that needed to happen.

He was standing awkwardly at the counter as she grabbed two sake glasses and a bottle of the tonic, seeming unaware of how they stood after the incident in the hospital room. "Is it going to be that kind of conversation?" he asked with forced levity in an attempt to lighten the mood. She nodded mutely and gave a wan smile, once again glad for his continued presence in her life.

She quickly filled the cups with alcohol before downing the contents in one swift gulp, repeating the process twice more for good measure. She could see the mounting concern darkening his blue eyes at her movements and did her best to brush it off. Taking her sake and drinking vessel with her she retreated to the living area, motioning for him to follow and sunk into one of her seats, waiting for him to join her in the one opposite with a small table between.

Sucking in a great breath she looked at the man across from her, pity overwhelming her at the thoughts of his original demise. "Now don't interrupt until the end because everything I am about to tell you is the truth," she paused minutely, waiting for him to give her a nod of acquiescence "and it is going to be very confusing"

"My name is Sakura Haruno, my shinobi registration number is 012601 and I will be born on March 28th of this year. I am from roughly 18 years in the future where I was thrown back from a combination of an unknown jutsu and a modified hiraishin seal. I need your help to fix what went wrong, starting with what happened on the night of the birth of your child."

-xxxxx-

He was shocked by the end of her tale, but knowledge that the Hokage could confirm it was a weighty truth that led credence to it. Her reaction to his news earlier had stunned and hurt him and he was glad that they had cleared the air but wasn't sure he could handle the new weight settling upon his frame from the information she had shared.

He thought back to their first meeting, at how lost she seemed and the name she initially gave him. The little inconsistencies and lies she told that he brushed off suddenly seemed to fit into place like a giant puzzle. They had already discussed so much and he felt the heavy atmosphere lighten considerably however one glaring detail kept coming to the forefront of his mind.

"So," he started, making sure to get the attention of the relieved pinkette in front of him. "Naruto huh?" he asked, sending her a smile nearly splitting his face in twain at the nod he received. "I like it."

Chapter Text

Unaware That I’m Tearing You Asunder

She had always feared Him, perhaps to an unreasonable extent. Ever since that day in the forest of death so many years ago even his name would send shivers down her spine. She had even adopted a hatred of snakes that bordered on phobia. Every once in a great while her nightmares would feature impossibly pale skin and long black hair framing golden eyes and when she inevitably woke in a cold sweat she could swear she still heard a serpentine hissing lingering on the edges of her subconscious. 

She looked at Sasuke, tried desperately to still feel those long buried stirrings of what she believed was love. Yet all she could think was how he had been tainted by Him. She knew he felt that he had been changed as well. Even after the death of his family when he was nothing but a great ball of angst and retribution he would still smile. Now, well now he seemed so devoid of any happy emotion. He was just there, an empty entity at a loss of what he stood for now. 

He had fulfilled his goal, gotten his vengeance, but the darkness never left him. 

They were sitting away from camp, the two of them sharing a log far enough off from the flickering lights of the fires that she was sure it looked to be romantic. It was anything but. 

He was angular, the face that a younger her once believed to be the most handsome she had ever seen had lost any softness and all that was left was hard planes and sharp cheekbones. His hair had grown long and was messily tied in a low tail, reminiscent of, but not quite, his brother. She was pulled from her observations, no longer admirations, by his low tones. 

“Sakura,” he started, his voice quiet and somber in the night. “I’m not what he needs right now.” 

She nodded in understanding, knowing he wouldn’t appreciate the unneeded and unfelt opposition. A tense silence permeated the air and she looked down towards her fidgeting hands.

“You aren’t either.”

Her head snapped up at his words and she tried desperately to hide the hurt that she was sure flashed across it. She fumbled for a moment, searching for excuses but he cut her off with a sharp reprimand before any sounds could form.

“You are a shadow of yourself. You’re wandering this camp like a ghost, kicking yourself for each wrong move. You love him and everyone can tell. Even Hinata.” 

She could feel her breath catch at the mention of the Hyuuga princess. Her death was a wound far too fresh. Over time she had grown to admire the girl even if the admiration became tinged with the sting of jealousy once Naruto finally reciprocated her feelings, and her recent sacrifice left the camp stunned. 

“I know,” she whispered in confession, startling even herself. She had been off lately, never quite up to snuff on the battlefield and off, and knew that unless she could pull herself together she would be a liability. It was like she had been lingering in a haze of pity and depression “I’ve been acting like a child pouting about something, someone,  I can’t have.” her voice took on a front of anger now, not at him but at herself. “How can I be the person he needs?” 

“You need to be strong,” he replied and she watched, entranced as slender fingers rose to rub the spot where his seal used to be. “I used to think that strength was physical and it could only come from learning from someone else.” he said, while stopping his movements and giving her a hard stare in the eyes. “But recently I’ve learned that true strength comes from within, from the ability to throw it all away and sacrifice yourself for what you believe in.”

He seemed exhausted from saying so many things at once, and true to form it was probably the longest he had ever spoken to her directly. He had certainly changed. “When did you get so wise?” she joked, wishing inanely to insert some lightness to the impossibly heavy atmosphere. He simply ‘hnn’-ed in response and she felt her gaze travel towards his back again where at the junction of his neck and shoulders a seal used to stand out brazenly against his pale skin. 

Almost like a tattoo. 

An idea struck her then, one she knew she could never fully shake off, and she quickly stood leaving Sasuke in the darkness to go do some research. She had found a way to be strong for the blond haired boy she loved so much. A way to fully commit to a cause, and that cause was making sure that Naruto survived this war. 

-xxxxx-

There were four full squads lined up outside a research lab in the forest, each member poised on their toes, anxious muscles wound too tight and ready to spring. There were masks she failed to recognize and she suddenly felt glad that she could count Minato and Choza’s group missing from the lineup, knowing that not all of them would make it back from this mission unscathed. Everyone was on edge and she could even feel the nerves from her normally calm captain as he stood close at her back, his crane mask a pleasant sight that kept her grounded. 

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood before them all, clad in the battle gear she had only seen once before. She resisted the memories of her first chunnin exam and the battle where he lost his life, she had only caught a quick glimpse of him on the rooftop fighting the traitor within the barrier but the image she saw had stayed with her forever. Even as a young genin she could see why he was nicknamed the God of Shinobi. He was addressing them all silently, giving each black ops member an appraising look in the eyes and a nod of approval at what he saw reflected back at him. His gaze met hers and she did her best to convey her most important message. Live. As his head moved and he turned to her neighbor she forced a calming sigh, she needed to stay focused. 

No words were said, they had all been briefed before and had only been communicating via hand signs since leaving the village gate, but she knew what was waiting for them behind the metal doors that lead to one of Orochimaru's underground research laboratories. She knew that deep within those halls were horrifying experiments and innocent children, and she knew that no one would leave intact after seeing inside the mind of the snake Sannin. 

The signal was given, a sharp snap of a hand that cut the air, and they were on the move. They converged on the door like shadows, silent and flickering in and out of the light from above the canopy. The heavy iron of the door gave way first, courtesy of a well placed explosive tag, and they funneled through, into the winding pathways and horrid lighting that spelled misery for combat. 

A flash of a crane mask caught her eye as Kisuke moved towards the front, his sharp eyes scanning nooks and crannies for any possible traps and she felt a stab of loss at the absence of calm his presence brought her.

The cold stone walls and dim lighting sent her reeling back into her thoughts of a time when she once infiltrated another one of the man's hideouts. When she and Naruto tried so desperately to bring Sasuke back with them and failed once more. The pain of the memories tore at her like a knife, leaving her jittery and on edge in a way that was wholly unacceptable for the situation she now found herself in. 

They were quiet, footsteps as silent as expected of ANBU so when a tiny click echoed through the long hallway everyone could hear it and each armor clad body stilled in fear, unknowing who had set off a trap that even their best users missed. Her captain turned towards her and she saw the look of horror echoed in his eyes at the knowledge that they had been bested already. 

There was a roar of sound and flame and any noise she could have made was stuck in her throat as hot blood splattered across her mask. A strong hand grabbed her from behind and yanked her back away from the crumbling wall and fire, but she was only a physical shell.

Instead her mind was once more spinning to a time when she was drenched in the blood of her friends and enemies as the ground was torn from war. She was no longer looking at the mangled bodies and bloodied porcelain masks of two agents she never knew but was staring down at the lifeless eyes of Izumo and Kotetsu, her breaths now coming in great hiccupping gasps. 

She wanted to race forward, her body itched to pull them from the rubble, to hear the banter between the two that only came from years of friendship. Instead she was as paralyzed as the day so long ago in a forest not so far away, only this time it wasn’t the snake sannins killing instinct that forced her into stillness, it was his trickery and her traitorous mind. There was a clamorous chaos around and she was a quaking mess in the middle of it all, a useless little girl with too many book smarts and not enough physical training hours. 

The same strong hand from before was shaking her relentlessly, a deep voice calling for her, urgency coloring the words and she forced herself to look away, tears threatening to overspill. ‘ It’s not them’ she chanted in her mind, an eternal repeating mantra that grew stronger with every round.

‘It’s not them’

‘It’s not them’

‘It’s not them’

“Racoon!” he called once more, his voice sounding muffled and far away, and she finally willed herself to look towards the owner. Raido’s eyes stared back at her from behind his dark mask, frantic and crazed as she felt. “Snap out of it. We need that strength of yours.” he finished and she felt herself focus despite the ringing in her ears. Snapping the pieces of herself back together like a puzzle took more time than she had so she settled for bundling it into a pile and turning her attention back to the rubble.

‘It is NOT them’

The explosion had caved in the walls of the cavern before them and it seemed as if half of the force was separated from the group on the other side. She could hear the loud calls from agents on the far side letting them know they were ok as they dropped all pretense of subtlety. The heavy staccato beat of her heart slowed somewhat when she could hear the voices of both her taichou and hokage ring out clearly, letting them know that they were moving on ahead.

Still unable to find her voice, or unable to trust it, she nodded gravely before gingerly stepping over the two dead ANBU and pulling one arm back. She pulled chakra towards the extremity and frowned at the small flickers it gave before glowing brightly as she smashed it into the rubble. 

Rocks went flying but the walls on either side held still, save for a few small worrying shudders. She cocked her fist back and proceeded to land two more earth shattering blows before a wolf masked nin came forward and used the empty space to create an arch out of mud and dirt to reinforce the opening she had created.

Raido had seemed to be the one to take charge as he now commanded the rest of the nin through the pathways, unwillingly splitting them up as they came across a fork. She felt dread as she watched the other group leaving down the tunnel opposite her, all of the trap specialists were in the pack that made it through before the explosion. They were effectively blind down here in this winding maze of tunnels, especially considering the first device had no visible trigger. 

The splintering of forces once more left her with her two teammates and she tried her best to imagine it as any other mission. There was another small click and instead of freezing everyone kept moving, dashing down the hall and ducking the whistling kunai that flew overhead, the metal glinting in the low light. Hinoto gave a small gasp of pain and Sakura twisted her neck to see one of the blades digging deep into her shoulder. It wasn’t mortal by any means so when she pivoted on her foot to aim one glowing hand towards the woman's arm Raido gave a sharp grunt to keep her moving and not heal the flesh wound. 

Screams echoed down the halls, bouncing off the walls and traveling far longer than they should have and she instinctively knew that the team they had parted ways with had met their demise. Her feet once more yearned to turn and run towards the sounds but she knew they had a mission to complete and their Hokage needed them more. 

A chuckle chilled her to the bone. It was a sound she had heard before, the serpent like quality of it forever ingrained in her mind. Her muscles seized and froze as his killing intent washed over her once he casually strolled from the shadows in front of them. It was her first time seeing him since her travel to the past and she felt sickened at the sight of him in a Konoha uniform. It was a perverse image and she felt as if he were defiling everything it stood for. 

Raido found his footing first, a shadowy blade swinging ever quickly towards the sannins pale neck only to be parried in return with his own Kusanagi. She blanched at the sight, unaware he had already obtained the legendary sword. Hinoto jumped into the fray as well, her staff never landing a direct hit before she was smacked hard enough to send her flying down the corridor like a rag doll. 

Sakura finally snapped back into herself, no longer feeling just disgust at the sight of the man but full encompassing rage. With an undignified roar she launched herself towards him, an entire arm glowing so brightly it lit the corridor. The man moved out of her way at the last moment, twisting and stretching inhumanly, and unable to stop her trajectory she crashed into a wall. Bits of dust and stone exploded outward and she turned back to see him eyeing her appreciatively. 

Her frog masked companion was now swinging wildly at the snakes that Orochimaru had quickly summoned and she felt herself quivering in fear at his full undivided attention. 

“Ah,” he called towards her with the same mocking voice he had used in the forest and suddenly she was a child again, running from the boogey man. “So at long last I get to meet my dear Tsunade's fabled apprentice.” she hurled herself at him again, a flurry of glowing fists and feet yet he managed to slither away from each direct hit and she felt herself growing more and more agitated. “I have heard whispers of you.” he taunted while avoiding her attacks so cleanly that it ached. 

He reached up to grab one of her legs as it swung towards his side, his arm wrapping around it more times than humanly possible, creating a strange spiraling corkscrew of flesh. She felt a shiver of revulsion down her spine as she looked into his golden eyes. “It looks like you need some more training.” he stated, his voice showing no ounce of exhaustion. 

She glared, and as a drop of sweat dripped from her forehead she ripped the mask away from her skin to look him face to face. “I will end you.” she ground out, summoning all her remaining strength to rip her leg from the twisted arm. She moved to grab her regulation tanto but he parried the smaller blade before it completed its first swing, his famed sword shattering the standard blade into hundreds of glinting shards. 

The pieces of metal clattered uselessly to the ground, flickering in the light like the fireflies she used to watch as a child and catching her attention way more than the sight rightly should have. Her distraction caused her dearly as he brought the hilt of his blade into the back of her skull with such a force that she went sliding down the hallway. 

There was an odd darkness closing in on her vision, a sense of weakness that shouldn’t be and she was feeling more drained than normal. She stood shakily, using the wall for support and channeled her chakra to her fist once more, only for it to flicker once again. Sakura’s fist swung clumsily and he caught it with a mocking grin. His free hand grasped her neck pulling her up in the air until her feet swung free searching for purchase. 

“Oh Sakura,” he hissed, elongating each syllable and twisting it about while holding her aloft and squeezing slowly. She didn't know how he knew her name and easily realized she didn't care to learn either.  “You are only human.” he then pulled her back down until she was level with him as she sputtered and fought unrelentingly, his golden eyes boring into her green orbs mockingly “And what is man to a god” 

“You are no god.” she spat out and nearly shuddered at the look of pure unbridled fury that flashed across his unnaturally pale face. It was gone in an instant but Sakura knew it would live to haunt her nightmares.

He grinned and gave one more sinister chuckle, the sound slithering down her back and to her toes before he smashed her head into the wall.

Her head collided with the stonework and a tiny cry slipped past her lips as he maneuvered her body as if it were weightless.

The second impact was clumsy and she felt the rough stone scrape along her shoulder and back as it took the brunt of the hit. It was when he flung her body back for one last hit that she knew she was not going to be walking out of this tunnel, that this would be her tomb. 

A crack sounded along the hallway as blood dripped into her eyes, an unimaginable pain blossoming within her steadily darkening vision. She gave great gasps for air as he dropped her like an unwanted toy, a sharp kick to the ribs finishing his beating. She looked to see Raido slumped against a wall, alive but glistening from what she had no doubt was a fever from the snake bite that now graced his left arm.

The world was tilting sideways and she could do nothing but struggle to right herself as she watched uselessly as Orochimaru steadily walked away as if nothing had happened. 

She couldn’t channel her chakra to heal, it was as if nothing was left, and with a lone cry of anger and failure echoing off the stone she let the darkness take over.

Breathe in.

Breathe out. 

-xxxxx-

He gave a weary sigh as he slid the door open, longing wistfully for a quick puff of his tobacco but knowing that the hospital had banned it long ago. 

“I warned you” the rosette sneered at him, her beryl eyes zeroing on his . She made such a small figure in the hospital bed, swathed in bandages and an oversized gown, that he hadn't quite anticipated the viciousness that she could spew at him.

“I know” came a resigned answer, his figure seeming to slump further from the weight of the admission. 

“I told you exactly what would happen! You didn’t listen.” She raged, and she was right to spit fire, her righteous anger well placed. “Every single shinobi who died today died because of you.” She had indeed warned him, pleaded for him to understand that his bygone student was now little more than a monster yet he still wavered. “You could have killed him if you tried.” He still believed that simple words could force the snake Sannin to change his ways, and his troops, some of the best of the best, paid dearly for his miscalculations.  

“I know.” he responded once more, mindful of his answers while shooting a warning glance towards the sleeping occupant of her room, Sakura seemed to pick up on the silent caution, her figure going tense and rigid while a heavy silence settled over the sterile area. 

“Then why?” Her voice was smaller now, pleading to understand and her green orbs bored into his demanding well earned answers. 

“The sins of a teacher are not that easy to overcome.” 

-xxxxx-

He hummed in thoughtfulness at the vase of flowers before shifting the entire bunch towards the sun a bit more. Vibrant gladiolus and delicate peonies with a smattering of yarrow and zinnias to fill the empty spots seemed to both convey his message of healing while lighting up the dreary hospital room.  

“You know Ino was always better at remembering the different types of flowers.” The pale pinkette called from the bed, the bandage wrapped around her head only serving to make her look more sickly. 

Inoichi smiled at her before dragging one of the plastic chairs to her bedside. “I would sure hope so.” he answered, taking care to choose his words once his eyes caught sight of her roommate. Hinoto was in the bed beside Sakura's, her arm in a full cast and turned to her side, and despite the steady rhythm of breaths that signified sleeping he wouldn't put it past any ANBU to be able to fake the movements.

He noticed that since entering the room her green eyes had brightened considerably and he wondered if the other woman hadn’t been the best of company. “Please tell me you have some of Midori’s Anmitsu for me” she begged him, and he shook his head sadly, suddenly reminded why he was stopping by. “You’re not here for a social visit, are you?” she questioned, dread coloring her words.

She looked so defeated and he wished with all his might he didn't have to deliver the news he had been given. “Sakura,” he started, and winced at how quickly her entire being deflated. “I have some bad news.” he waited, giving her a moment to compose herself before he delivered the blow. 

“There were some troubling reports of what happened to you last night during the raid. It seems you had an episode similar to PTSD and until you can pass a complete psych eval you have been suspended from ANBU.” he finished, shoulders slumping as a dense layer of hopelessness seemed to settle in the air.

“Oh”, it was a small noise, tiny and full of pain and he reached to grab her hand only to nearly recoil at the way she seemed to deflate in front of him. She was a dear friend, and a powerful kunoichi who carried the fate of far too many on her slim shoulders and he felt so utterly helpless in that moment. “How long will that take?” she asked him, a tiny sliver of hope making its way through and he sighed resolutely aware that his next words would crush that optimism.

“A While.” 

And if he failed to notice Hinoto across the room, the steady rise and fall of her chest stilling just a moment too long, it was because he was too concerned with the green eyed girl from the future in front of him. The woman who was trying her hardest to hold together the cracking pieces of glass that was her composure. 

-xxxxx-

He was so cold and the rain made his skin so slick yet she held fast, arms wrapped around his paperwhite form. She didn’t care that his blood was staining her apron, the pale pink garment having been ripped and tarnished long ago, it was now no more than a scrap of its former self.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I should have been here. Kami I’m so sorry!” she was repeating and there was an annoying sobbing that kept sounding in the field of bodies. With a jolt she realized it was her. She had taken too long healing someone else, someone not as important, and was too late. 

She was always too late.

It was a deep wound, from some great blade, slicing from hip to shoulder and nearly cutting him in twain. Vibrant blood stood stark against his skin, a picture of red, white, and black that he no doubt would have found aesthetically pleasing. She brushed her fingers through his hair, pushing it back out of his unseeing eyes and leaving streaks of crimson along his forehead. 

“Alright Sai, you win.” she murmured remembering the promise she made the last time she saw him alive. “I’m tattooing a seal on my side. It’s a match for the one you saw sewn into Naruto’s coat.” Rain kept pouring down as she spoke, her fingers playing with his fine hair as she whispered her secret to his still form “It’s a modification of his father’s flying thunder god seal. He’s too good to fail, too pure. We need someone to lead us in the aftermath and this will make sure that if something were to ever happen I can save him.” She finished, admiring the way his blood and ink were swirling together and making patterns in the mud. He found a way to make art even in death. 

Bending down she gave a gentle kiss to his icy temple before saying goodbye one last time. “I hope you are with your brother now.”

-xxxxx-

It was her fourth night in the hospital and there was a shadow in her room. She had snapped into consciousness like a rubber band as soon as she detected the foreign presence. The figure's chakra signature was surprisingly suppressed, but she didn’t need it to know who had infiltrated her room that night. The glints of light off of bulky bandages and the heavy atmosphere that seemed to accompany the man everywhere told her exactly who it was. 

Her next target had come for her and she could only hope she could entrap him before he could do the same to her. After careful planning between her and the hokage and planting the seeds of interest he had finally come to offer her the next piece of the puzzle. 

Danzo Shimura had come for her, and she was going to make damned sure to not let this moment pass.

“Who are you?” Sakura asked, careful to school both her voice and features into a blank mask. Her blood was rushing in her ears as she tried to calm the raging fire within. Oh how she longed to slit his traitorous throat from ear to ear. Reigning her fury in she forced her slightly trembling hand to still. Hiruzen had given her explicit instructions that they were to take him down legally or the village would never stand for it. He was too well known, too entrenched within the councils and noble families. 

“A friend,” he spoke, the low gravelly tones raising gooseflesh on her arms as she allowed herself a mental snort of derisiveness. His gaze found its way to where her ANBU tattoo resided, now covered by the regulation gown yet despite the flimsy fabric she felt naked beneath his lone eye. “I heard about your suspension.” he gave a pause, allowing his words to fill the air. “They don’t appreciate what they have if they would push aside someone as useful as you.”

He was formidable, his words, his mannerisms, all of it was a carefully crafted persona designed to make her feel weak and malleable and despite her best attempts it was working. She struggled to find her voice under his oppressive being and once she did she was unhappy to learn it sounded so small. 

“How do you know about me?” Sure she had her suspicions but the knowledge of who it was would be helpful for the old man to know. 

He motioned his head minutely towards her teammate's now empty bed, Hinoto had been released earlier and Sakura felt the pieces click into place and easily recognized the small personality ticks that had eluded her about the woman before. “We have a mutual acquaintance.” he stated, offering her no more information but correctly assuming that she had figured out the identity. 

He gave her one more calculating look before cutting to the meaning behind the meeting, questions and idle chit chat forgotten. “I want you to come join me, I am in need of someone with your abilities and can train you to look past your shortcomings.” She was insulted that he would refer to her trauma as a shortcoming but did her best to keep her anger inside, he continued without allowing her an answer. “I will meet you tomorrow night for an answer.” he silently dismissed her and made for the door to the room, having finished his proposal.

She pretended to look thoughtful, unwilling to look too eager and ruin her plan. “I’ll be released in the morning,” she called towards his now retreating form. 

He turned one dark eye back towards her, his lingering gaze sending unpleasant shivers once more. “Don’t worry, I will find you.”

No more words were said, he left the room moving far faster than the carefully crafted public face he wore should have, and she took one long shuddering breath to calm her now quaking nerves.

-xxxxx-

She couldn't shake the oppressive feeling of the man as she made her way to Minato’s the next day, eager to share in her next step but still too disappointed with the Hokage to visit him yet. Forcing her thoughts of the Shimura out of her mind she turned her attention towards another problem that had been plaguing her. 

The strange chakra fluctuations. Not only was she running out of chakra much sooner than she should have been, she was noticing that more and more often it was blinking out, for a lack of a better term. Perhaps she was simply spreading herself too thin, but even on her busiest days she felt nothing like she did in the war. 

She felt fine now, no exhaustion physical or otherwise and was currently (mostly) unwounded, deciding to test the glowing green energy she stopped in the middle of a park, plopping herself on the nearest bench with an unladylike Omph . None of the medics had mentioned anything when she brought it up, and even she could not find a logical reason but knew that eventually she would have to find an answer to the conundrum, especially since it was happening at the worst moments.

Slowly lifting one leg she channeled some energy to it and was satisfied to see it light up a bright and steady green, she was happier when the same seemed to happen with the other leg. 

She held the chakra, pooling it towards each toe, then her heel before releasing the energy and watching as the flow receded normally. 

Pulling one hand up she proceeded to do the same, eyes focusing on each finger as she watched the verdant chakra glowed before suddenly flickering out momentarily. “No.” she groaned before trying again. 

The chakra bloom cut off suddenly as she felt the air leave her lungs the moment she heard a deep booming laugh. It was one she knew so well, something ingrained into her very being from hearing it accompanied by terrible jokes for all of her childhood. It was a noise she hadn’t heard in far too long that permeated only her most treasured dreams. 

Down the path a tall man with dusky pink hair was with a blonde woman holding his arm out for a daily stroll. They both were not much older than herself and thoroughly in the midst of wedded bliss. Sakura felt tears collect at the corners of her eyes at the sight of her parents, they, just like almost everyone else she knew, were dead in her time and she never had the chance to say goodbye. She never got to tell them how much they meant to her and how lucky she was to have them in her life. 

The wistful feelings were fleeting, replaced by an unnameable emotion once she looked closer at her mother. She was glowing with an unmatched inner beauty and her stomach was noticeably round with a child, a child that Sakura knew well enough was her. Looking back towards her hand, where the chakra was dim and flickering she felt the weight of understanding crush her. 

There was a small gasping noise that escaped her lips as she slowly lowered her hand, the light cutting off in an instant. The last vestiges of confusion are starting to make sense. 

She was floating untethered, unsure of how to continue. Comprehension was truly her worst enemy. It was a well known fact that twins never developed very deep wells of chakra, and it had long been noted that they shared a special connection on a spiritual level, one that included the elemental force that all shinobi relied on.

She was sharing a chakra system with the unborn version of herself, almost as if they too were twins. That was why everything was so erratic, so unpredictable. Her mother was far enough along that baby Sakura had been storing chakra, circulating it through her tiny coils aiding in her development, and she was suffering for it.

How much worse would it be if her body continued to react this way? Would she get weaker until finally she passed away herself? “Kami” she whispered, sending a silent prayer for help but unsure of the words. 

She felt a dread seep in, almost begging her to give up before she would get worse, that tiny voice that always used to tell her she would fail was now roaring in her ears. Stamping that demon back down she made a new resolution, vigor and determination flooding her senses.

She took one more look at the happy family before fleeing the scene, nothing left to say that she was there other than dust and leaves settling back down. Her pink locks were flowing behind her in a curtain as she sped through the village, jittery and mind running as fast as her feet. 

She needed to speak to someone, tell anyone of her newest complication, her words barely held within her mouth as much more than a jumbled mess. Her heart immediately yearned for her to continue her earlier trek towards Minato’s home, but she was aware that he was overburdened already with the truth of his son's birth. A tinkling laugh fluttered to her mind reminding her of a confidant from days long past and she felt her feet turn and run towards the closest living link to that friendship, to the ally that was becoming just as important to her. 

She slid to a stop as her destination came into view and marched through the door paying no mind to the ringing of the bell of the overpowering smells now flooding her senses. Beryl eyes found her target, his back turned and blond hair tied up into an unmanly knot with a ribbon in one hand and shears in the other, before taking a deep breath and making her proclamation. 

“I have a problem”