Chapter Text
Something was wrong with the chakra around her.
That was Sakura's first coherent thought.
Not the pain.
Not the cold soil beneath her cheek.
Not even the fact that she could hear birds somewhere above her when, less than a moment ago, she was absolutely certain she had been standing beneath fluorescent lights.
The chakra was wrong.
Sakura opened her eyes.
Green filled her vision.
Leaves.
Branches.
Sunlight breaking through an enormous canopy.
For several seconds, Sakura Haruno remained perfectly still.
Then instinct took over.
Her palm struck the ground.
Chakra spread beneath her.
Not enough to damage anything.
Just a pulse.
It passed through roots, stone, loose earth, insects, burrows—
And returned.
Sakura's eyes sharpened.
Nothing within immediate striking distance.
No footsteps.
No hidden chakra signatures.
No explosive tags.
No underground tunnels.
No traps.
She pushed herself upright.
Her breathing remained controlled.
Her heart did not.
"What..."
Sakura stopped.
She looked down at herself.
Same clothes.
Same hands.
Same seal centered neatly on her forehead.
No visible injuries.
She ran two fingers over her ribs, then her abdomen. A thread of medical chakra spread through her own body.
No internal bleeding.
No fractures.
No foreign chakra.
No genjutsu that she could detect.
That last possibility bothered her enough that she checked twice.
Then a third time.
Nothing.
Sakura slowly stood.
The forest around her was ancient.
That was the only word that came to mind.
The trees were enormous, some wider than houses, their roots twisting through the earth in heavy knots. Moss covered stones untouched by roads or construction. There were no utility poles in the distance.
No rooftops.
No obvious trails.
No familiar landmarks.
She closed her eyes.
Listened.
Wind.
Water somewhere east.
Birds.
Small animals.
Nothing else.
Sakura's mouth flattened.
"Okay."
She said the word mostly because hearing her own voice helped.
"Think."
She remembered where she had been.
She remembered the hospital.
A late shift.
An argument with one of the younger medics over sterilization procedures.
Tea she had forgotten to drink.
A report waiting on her desk.
Then—
Sakura's brows pulled together.
Pressure.
That was the only thing she could describe it as.
Not an explosion.
Not an attack.
Pressure.
The room had distorted.
For less than a second, she had felt her chakra network pulled in every direction at once.
Then darkness.
Then this.
Sakura looked around again.
Space-time ninjutsu immediately came to mind.
She hated that conclusion.
There were too many possibilities and none of them good.
Teleportation.
Summoning.
Barrier displacement.
Some technique she had never encountered.
A genjutsu sophisticated enough to deceive her senses despite every countermeasure she knew.
She raised one hand and formed a seal.
"Kai."
Her chakra surged.
The forest remained.
Sakura sighed.
"Of course."
She crouched again.
This time she placed her entire palm against the earth.
Her expression shifted.
She sent chakra downward.
Then outward.
The pulse was thin enough that most sensory shinobi would never have noticed it.
It passed through the ground in a widening ring.
Ten meters.
Twenty.
Fifty.
One hundred.
The landscape began forming inside Sakura's mind.
Not visually.
Not exactly.
It was closer to understanding shape through pressure.
Trees became vertical interruptions.
Roots formed sprawling networks.
Burrows appeared as hollow spaces.
Stone registered differently from packed soil.
Moving animals sent back faint irregularities.
Sakura pushed farther.
Two hundred meters.
Three.
Four.
Then she stopped.
She could go much farther.
Especially if she opened her Sage perception.
But that would be foolish.
If hostile shinobi were nearby, flooding an unknown area with senjutsu chakra would announce her presence to anyone sensitive enough to notice.
Sakura lifted her hand.
No people.
For now.
She climbed.
A burst of chakra carried her onto the lowest branch.
Another sent her higher.
Within seconds she emerged above the canopy.
She stopped.
Her unease deepened.
Forest.
Endless forest.
Rolling hills.
A distant ridge.
Smoke far to the northwest.
Maybe a settlement.
Maybe a camp.
The river she had sensed earlier wound through the landscape like silver.
Sakura searched for something familiar.
A monument.
A road.
A village wall.
Anything.
Nothing.
She descended more slowly.
Her first priority was information.
The second was avoiding unnecessary attention.
The third—
She glanced down at herself.
—was looking less suspicious.
That would be difficult.
She had no idea what part of the world she was in.
Her clothing might be recognizable.
Her equipment certainly could be.
And the diamond-shaped seal on her forehead was not exactly subtle.
Sakura reached into one of her pouches.
Kunai.
Wire.
Medical supplies.
Several soldier pills.
A compact storage scroll.
Not enough for long-term survival.
Enough for now.
She checked another pouch.
Money.
Probably useless depending on where she had landed.
Sakura rubbed her temple.
"This is ridiculous."
A bird startled from a branch nearby.
Sakura froze.
Not because of the bird.
Because the ground had spoken.
Very faintly.
Movement.
Three.
No—
Four.
Humans.
Fast.
Approximately eight hundred meters south.
Her earlier pulse hadn't reached far enough.
Sakura immediately suppressed her chakra.
Her presence vanished.
She moved.
Not toward them.
Parallel.
She wanted information.
Not contact.
Sakura slipped through the trees without disturbing more than a handful of leaves.
The chakra signatures ahead were disciplined.
Trained.
Shinobi.
That narrowed absolutely nothing.
She accelerated.
Then stopped.
Voices.
Sakura landed silently behind the trunk of a massive cedar.
Four men stood in a clearing below.
Their clothing was wrong.
At first she thought it was simply old-fashioned combat armor.
Then she noticed the lack of forehead protectors.
No village insignia.
Only clan markings.
Sakura frowned.
One man was injured.
Blood darkened the side of his clothes.
Another was crouched beside him.
"Can you move?"
"For now."
"We need to reach the eastern camp before nightfall."
Sakura's eyes narrowed.
Eastern camp.
No village designation.
No country.
The injured man cursed beneath his breath.
"The Hagoromo patrols have pushed farther south."
Sakura went completely still.
Hagoromo?
That name stirred something distant in her memory.
Not enough.
History had never been her favorite subject.
She knew the important things.
Wars.
Founding dates.
Major clans.
Political reforms.
The details were—
Sakura's gaze shifted.
One of the men turned.
The symbol on the back of his armor came into view.
A stylized fan.
Sakura forgot how to breathe.
Uchiha.
Not a variation.
Not a decorative crest.
Uchiha.
She stared.
There were explanations.
There had to be.
An Uchiha splinter group.
Historical armor.
A surviving traditionalist faction.
Some remote settlement.
Except—
There were no Uchiha settlements.
Not anymore.
Not like this.
Sakura's stomach tightened.
Below her, another man spoke.
"We can't stay here. Tajima-sama ordered all patrols back before sunset."
Sakura's fingers curled against the bark.
Tajima.
That name she remembered.
Barely.
Madara Uchiha's father.
Sakura's pulse jumped.
No.
Absolutely not.
The wounded shinobi tried to stand.
Failed.
His companion caught him.
"We'll carry you."
"You'll slow yourselves down."
"No one's leaving you."
"You will if Senju scouts find us."
Sakura's thoughts raced.
Tajima Uchiha.
Hagoromo clan.
Senju.
Possibilities collapsed one after another.
There was only one left.
Impossible.
Sakura hated impossible things.
Because the world had a bad habit of doing them anyway.
One of the Uchiha suddenly looked toward the trees.
Sakura's body tensed.
"Something wrong?"
"I thought I felt..."
The man frowned.
Then shook his head.
"Nothing."
They began moving.
Three supported the fourth.
Slowly.
Sakura remained hidden.
Her brain refused to cooperate.
The Warring States Period.
No.
No, that didn't make sense.
She had not traveled backward in time.
Time travel was—
Sakura stopped herself.
She had once watched a dead man summon meteors from the sky.
She had fought beings from myths.
She had seen dimensions folded into one another.
Maybe she no longer had the right to call anything impossible.
The group disappeared between the trees.
Sakura remained motionless for nearly a minute.
Then she sat down on the branch.
Just sat.
"This is bad."
It sounded inadequate.
She tried again.
"This is catastrophically bad."
Better.
She pressed her fingers against her forehead.
Tajima Uchiha was alive.
Which meant Madara—
Sakura lowered her hand.
Madara Uchiha was alive.
Possibly young.
Possibly already leading.
Possibly—
Hashirama.
Tobirama.
Izuna.
Names from history.
Names she'd heard since childhood.
People whose actions had shaped nearly every part of the world she knew.
And somewhere nearby, they might simply be walking around.
Alive.
Sakura looked at the empty forest.
Konoha did not exist.
The thought landed differently from the others.
No village.
No Hokage Monument.
No hospital.
No Academy.
No streets she knew.
No home.
Her throat tightened unexpectedly.
Sakura shut the feeling down.
Later.
She could deal with that later.
Right now she needed facts.
What year?
Where exactly?
How old were Hashirama and Madara?
Had the friendship between them already happened?
Was Izuna alive?
Had the village idea begun?
Had—
Sakura stopped herself.
Too many questions.
One at a time.
She jumped down.
The moment her feet touched the earth, her sensory technique activated again.
This time the pulse traveled farther.
Much farther.
Five hundred meters.
One kilometer.
Sakura's consciousness expanded through the terrain.
Animals.
Roots.
Stone.
Four retreating shinobi.
Then—
She frowned.
Another group.
Six people.
Approaching fast from the opposite direction.
Sakura opened her eyes.
Different movement pattern.
Aggressive.
Tracking the Uchiha.
Senju?
Possibly.
She hesitated.
Every intelligent instinct told her to leave.
She knew nothing about the politics of this exact moment.
Interference could be dangerous.
Changing history could be worse.
There were entire theories about temporal paradoxes.
Most of them were useless because nobody had expected someone to actually test them.
Sakura stepped backward.
Leave.
Gather information elsewhere.
Do not involve yourself.
A distant explosion shook the forest.
Birds scattered from the trees.
Sakura closed her eyes.
"Of course."
She turned.
And ran toward it.
The first Uchiha died before Sakura arrived.
She knew that before she saw him.
Her sensory pulse found three moving bodies.
One stationary.
Six enemies surrounding them.
Sakura landed in a tree overlooking the battlefield.
The fight below was fast and brutal.
There was none of the structured coordination common among modern village shinobi.
This was clan warfare.
Everyone knew exactly what the opposing clan could do.
No hesitation.
No conversation.
No attempt to capture.
The Uchiha had Sharingan active.
Their attackers—
Sakura recognized the crest.
Senju.
Her stomach sank.
Of course.
One injured Uchiha was already down.
Another fought two Senju simultaneously.
Fire erupted across the clearing.
Water crashed through it.
Steam swallowed everything.
Sakura remained above them.
Do not interfere.
History.
Consequences.
She repeated the words in her mind.
Then the wounded Uchiha she had seen earlier fell to one knee.
A Senju blade came down.
Sakura moved.
She hated herself a little for how unsurprising that was.
The blade never landed.
A hand caught the Senju's wrist.
Everything stopped.
The Senju shinobi stared at her.
So did the Uchiha.
Sakura stared back.
"Sorry."
Then she twisted.
Not hard enough to break the arm.
Just enough to force the weapon free.
Her other palm struck his chest.
He flew backward through three trees.
Sakura winced.
"That was harder than I intended."
Silence.
The wounded Uchiha looked at her.
"What—"
"Later."
A second Senju attacked.
Sakura ducked beneath his sword.
Her elbow touched his ribs.
She released barely any chakra.
He folded around the strike and crashed across the ground.
The battlefield changed instantly.
Everyone reassessed her.
Good shinobi always did.
One Senju formed hand seals.
"Earth Release—"
Sakura stomped.
The ground split before he finished.
Not violently.
Precisely.
A ridge of stone erupted beneath his feet and threw him sideways.
Two Uchiha stared.
Sakura pointed at them.
"You. Get your wounded man out."
Nobody moved.
Sakura's eyebrow twitched.
"Now."
Something in her tone worked.
One Uchiha grabbed the injured man.
The remaining Senju hesitated.
Sakura could see the calculation behind their eyes.
Unknown kunoichi.
No visible clan markings.
No forehead protector.
Possibly Uchiha ally.
Possibly something worse.
One of them spoke.
"Name yourself."
Sakura almost laughed.
Of all questions.
"Not interested."
"You interfere in Senju business—"
"I interfered with six people attacking three wounded men."
"They're Uchiha."
Sakura looked at him.
"And?"
The man seemed genuinely confused by the question.
Sakura suddenly understood something important.
This era was going to be exhausting.
Movement flickered behind her.
She turned.
Too late.
A kunai cut toward her neck.
Sakura leaned backward.
The blade passed centimeters from her skin.
Sharingan.
The Uchiha she had just protected had attacked her.
Sakura caught his arm.
His red eyes widened.
"You too?"
"You appeared from nowhere," he snapped. "You could be working with them."
Sakura stared at him.
Then at the Senju.
Then back at him.
"Wonderful."
She released him.
Both sides remained ready.
Sakura sighed.
"This is why your era is terrible."
Confusion.
Immediately.
Too late.
Sakura realized what she'd said.
She covered it smoothly.
"Your way of living. Clan warfare. Whatever you want to call this."
The Uchiha narrowed his eyes.
"Who are you?"
Sakura didn't answer.
Instead she crouched beside the wounded man.
His companions reacted instantly.
"Don't touch him."
"I'm a medic."
"You're what?"
That stopped Sakura.
She looked up.
"A medical-nin."
Blank expressions.
Not complete incomprehension.
But unfamiliarity.
One of the Senju frowned.
"A healer?"
Sakura's unease returned.
"Yes."
She placed two fingers against the wounded man's neck.
His pulse was weak.
Too weak.
A blade had entered below the ribs.
Significant blood loss.
Possible liver damage.
Sakura's hands glowed green.
Everyone recoiled.
She ignored them.
The injury was straightforward.
At least by her standards.
She used chakra to control the bleeding first.
Then scanned internally.
Liver.
Partially torn.
No intestinal perforation.
Lucky.
She began repairing tissue.
The wounded Uchiha gasped.
Sakura's concentration deepened.
This would have been routine in Konoha Hospital.
Here, judging by the silence around her, it apparently wasn't.
She finished the worst of it in under three minutes.
The wound closed gradually beneath her chakra.
Not perfectly.
He would still need rest.
But he would live.
Sakura withdrew her hands.
"You'll be weak for a few days. Don't fight."
The man stared at the place where the wound had been.
Then at her.
"What did you do?"
Sakura paused.
"Healed you?"
Nobody spoke.
Sakura had the distinct feeling she had made a mistake.
One of the Senju whispered,
"That technique..."
Another stared openly at her hands.
Sakura stood.
Every eye remained fixed on her.
She suddenly understood the problem.
Medical ninjutsu existed in some form during this period.
It had to.
But not like this.
Not standardized.
Not advanced.
And certainly not something capable of repairing severe internal damage on a battlefield in minutes.
Sakura mentally cursed.
So much for remaining unnoticed.
Then the earth vibrated.
Sakura's expression changed.
Everyone else noticed.
"What?"
She raised one hand.
"Quiet."
The Uchiha bristled.
Sakura ignored him.
Her chakra entered the ground again.
Pulse.
Roots.
Stone.
Movement.
A lot of movement.
She counted.
Seven.
Twelve.
Eighteen.
Twenty-three.
Approaching.
Fast.
Her eyes opened.
"There are twenty-three shinobi coming."
Everyone stared.
One Senju scoffed.
"Impossible."
Sakura pointed northwest.
"Seventeen from that direction."
Then east.
"Six more."
The man's expression changed.
"How do you know?"
"Not important."
The Uchiha with the Sharingan watched her with increasing suspicion.
"Are they ours?"
"I don't know."
Sakura looked between both groups.
"Which direction are your reinforcements coming from?"
Nobody answered.
Of course they didn't.
Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Fine."
She pulsed again.
This time she paid attention to gait, formation, equipment weight, chakra density.
The larger group moved similarly to the Senju.
The smaller—
Sakura glanced toward the Uchiha.
"Six are probably yours."
Everyone stiffened.
The Senju leader raised his weapon.
Sakura immediately stepped between them.
"No."
His eyes narrowed.
"You don't command us."
"No, but if all of you start fighting again, we're going to have thirty people here in under two minutes and I'm already irritated."
"You protected Uchiha."
"I protected wounded people."
"They're the same thing."
"No, they aren't."
For a second, Sakura thought he would attack.
Then a voice came from the forest.
"She's right."
Every Senju straightened.
Sakura turned.
A man stepped into the clearing.
Dark hair.
Red armor.
A sword at his side.
He was young.
Younger than Sakura expected.
But there was something unmistakable in his face.
Something familiar from statues, portraits, textbooks, monuments.
Sakura's blood went cold.
No.
Absolutely not.
The newcomer looked at the injured men.
Then the broken trees.
Then the Senju shinobi Sakura had sent flying.
Finally, his attention settled on Sakura.
His expression was curious rather than hostile.
That somehow made it worse.
"You aren't Uchiha."
Sakura swallowed.
"No."
"You aren't Senju."
"No."
His gaze shifted toward the healed Uchiha.
Then back to her glowing hands.
"And you healed him."
Sakura let the chakra fade.
"Yes."
His eyes widened slightly.
Not much.
But enough.
Sakura knew those eyes.
She knew that face.
She had seen it carved into stone for most of her life.
Hashirama Senju stood less than twenty feet away.
Alive.
Breathing.
Young.
And looking directly at her.
He smiled.
"That's incredible."
Sakura nearly closed her eyes.
Of course he did.
Of all the legendary shinobi she could have met first, it had to be him.
Then another presence appeared behind him.
Colder.
Sharper.
Pale hair.
Red eyes.
Suspicion radiated from him before he even spoke.
"Brother."
Tobirama Senju stared at Sakura.
"Move away from the Uchiha."
Sakura looked from Hashirama to Tobirama.
Then toward the Uchiha gathering behind her.
Her brain supplied one extremely unhelpful thought.
She really should have stayed in the tree.