Chapter Text
21-year-old Sakura Haruno seemed much older than she really was. She guesses that war just does that to people– that, and dealing with her exasperating teammates.
Don’t get her wrong, she loved Naruto and Sasuke, Kakashi too, but they are just so much to deal with.
Case in point: The new time travel seal Naruto just made. Sitting on training ground seven, she and her team gathered around Naruto as he displayed his newest creation. Soon, he would take the hat, but for now, he was helping the village with repairs and training himself in all sorts of subjects, including mastering his sealwork.
“Maa, how far back does it go?” Kakashi asks, casually peering at Naruto’s work with one eye.
“Depends on how much chakra you put into it,” Naruto responds, scratching the side of his head, “but even a year takes a lot.”
“Hn,” Sasuke grunts, draped over Naruto’s back like a cat. Sakura resists the urge to roll her eyes. Ever since they got together, the two have become joined at the hip. Really, she’s happy for them, but the level of clinginess between them is ridiculous. Thank god she got over that crush on Sasuke years ago; she doesn’t want to touch that dynamic with a ten-foot pole.
Everyone is supportive of them, amused if anything. Really, who didn’t see it coming? Then again, everyone has seemed to pair up lately– her and Kakashi are the only singles left in their friend group. She’s happy for everyone, but Sakura has been way too busy to think about romance, and she knows Kakashi has been too (though she suspects it's not just the hat keeping him away from romance– that man loves ghosts too much).
What has Sakura been busy with? Well, she finally mastered sage mode, becoming the first ever slug sage in history. Tsunade-Shishou had a contract, but not even she could reach sage-level. But it was one of her last wishes for her student to become a sage, and Sakura would die trying to honor her Shishou. And she nearly did; that training was no joke, but it was worth it.
“There is one issue with the seal, though,” Naruto continues, sighing.
Now, Sakura knows she should be more careful, but really, who could have predicted this from happening?
The next few moments happen in slow motion. Sakura summons Katsuya-sama for some training, with team seven, as per usual for the last few weeks. Simultaneously, Naruto runs his hand across the seal on the ground, the Kanji glowing in response.
Then, for the first time in years, Sakura makes a clumsy mistake– she trips smack dab over the seal as she tries to turn around towards Katsuya, her sage chakra flaring instinctively in response.
“It only responds to–” Naruto starts, before his eyes widen and he surges forward to try and yank the seal away.
It’s too late. Sakura dips towards the ground, her hands reaching out to steady herself. The three boys shout in alarm, desperately attempting to yank her back, but they’re too late.
Sakura’s hand lands right over the center of the seal. Then, darkness.
In another world, one where Naruto wasn’t interrupted, he would’ve said: “It only responds to sage chakra.”
But of fucking course, things couldn’t be that easy.
In one moment, there’s nothing, in the next, she’s hurtling down towards the earth.
Sakura coats herself in chakra in an attempt to cushion the imminent crash, free-falling to the ground.
Fuck my life, Sakura thinks hysterically.
She makes impact, a gigantic crater forming around her, before darkness swallows her up again for the second time in one day.
–
Obito is training with his team when all of a sudden, he sees something flying towards them.
“Uh, Sensei, what is that?” Obito asks, pointing towards the rapidly falling, wait, rapidly falling person?!
Minato-Sensei turns around just as the fucking person— a pink-haired woman??— collides with the ground.
He leaps back just in time to avoid getting rained on by dirt and rocks, yelping in alarm.
Rin and Kakashi run over as Sensei barks out, “Stay back!”
Obito looks over at Rin and mutters, “What the hell?”
She looks shaken, torn between the obvious desire to help (and also satiate her curiosity) and wariness.
Even Kakashi looks bewildered from where he’s standing off to the side, a bit further away from Rin.
“Rin! Come here, now!” Sensei yells, panic painting his usually calm face. Rin immediately Shunshins over, and despite not being told, so does Obito. To his surprise, Kakashi follows.
Sensei glances over at them, but instead of scolding them, he just shakes his head briefly and asks Rin to give the girl a check-up.
Obito can see why. But, surprisingly, the woman looks fine considering she just fell from the sky– not a scratch on her.
Normally, he’d be wary, but the woman has a Konoha Hitai-ate on, so surely they’re safe? On second thought, he scoots back a bit, despite his curiosity.
“Sensei, who’s that? What’s going on?” Obito asks, worried and confused.
“I have no idea,” Sensei responds, watching as Rin performs a cursory once-over. He looks over at him and Kakashi, “I’ve never seen her before, but there’s no henge or Genjutsu.” Minato-san continues, stupefied.
“We should report this,” Kakashi finally says, wary and tense.
Just as Sensei is about to respond, Rin interrupts, “She’s fine, Sensei, just exhausted. I think she’ll wake up soon.”
On queue, the unknown woman stirs, and team seven tenses.
Startling green eyes open, before she rolls over towards them and groans.
“Ma’am, are you alright…?” Rin starts, hesitant.
Those green eyes focus, before widening.
“Fuck”
–
When Sakura comes to, she lies in the center of a crater. Head pounding, she rolls over and groans, deep in her throat.
I am going to kill Naruto.
“Ma’am, are you alright…?” A shy voice starts.
Suddenly, it all comes rushing back. Being at training ground seven, the time travel seal, summoning Katsuya, tripping, falling through time–
Her eyes take in the image around her: a painfully familiar masked face, an unscarred face that haunts her dreams, a marked face she’s only ever seen in photos, and a face she’s seen carved into the mountain every day.
“Fuck,” She starts, “you’ve got to be kidding me.”
Disbelief, panic, incredulity, and oh-so-familiar anger bubble up inside her.
“I am going to kill your son for this!” She yells, pointing a finger in Minato Namikaze’s face, “When I see him again, he will wish he had never been born!”
Namikaze looks at her in shock, as does the rest of his team. Before any of them can get a word out, she shifts her gaze to mini-Kakashi. He instantly steps back at the unmitigated fury on her face.
“Kakashi-sensei, you better know a fucking way to fix this!” She continues, her rant gaining momentum.
A choked gasp leaves the mouth of mini-Kakashi, eyes wide.
“...What?” he squeaks out. At any other time, she might find this adorable, but right now, she is pissed. Mostly at herself and the universe.
Next, her eyes find mini-Obito’s, whose eyes are formed into the Sharingan. Distantly, she realizes her killing intent must be so potent that he is genuinely scared for his life.
“I have half a mind to kill you right here, no matter what your” – she glances at Namikaze– “Idiot son would say, little terrorist!” She barks out.
Mini-Obito stumbles backward onto his ass, gaping up at her in shock. Mini-Kakashi lets out another sound, a wheeze this time, while Namikaze seems to be shell-shocked.
Finally, she glares at the girl she’s heard Kakashi (and Obito) anguish over countless times.
“And you!” She points now at Rin, “You better not die and cause this whole shitshow to start!”
Sakura abruptly realizes that venting out her frustration might not be the smartest move because the timeline will be changed, but right now, she doesn’t care!
“Never mind, mini-sensei doesn’t have a clue right now. You!” She glares back at Namikaze as she starts to stand up. “How do I time-travel back to the future?”
At last, the blond man has seemed to recover enough to respond.
“What,” He chokes out, “the fuck.”