⏪ Back in Time! (HELP!) [Sakura Timetravel AU]

8: Mystery Purple Diamond

Sakura woke up to the chirping of the birds outside, head throbbing with pain, and a gut that felt like it was twisting into itself.

1

"Ah!"

+

Gasping in pain, her hands went to her abdomen to feel bandages wrapped around her. A flashback of Zabuza stabbing her in the gut whizzed through her brain.

+

Big shocker. He stabs me in the gut and it hurts... of course. Oh kami.. I wish I could heal this right now!

+

Sakura closed her eyes and let out a big sigh as her head hit the pillow with a thump. The pain moved all around her midsection and didn't seem like it was stopping. Blinking back tears, she laid there, just bearing with it. "Hah, I think... at least he didn't get any vital parts." Sakura chuckled to herself in a pathetic way. She closed her eyes and imagined her teammates to take her mind off the painfully numbing sensation. If Sakura hadn't stopped Zabuza in time, he would've most definitely caused a fatal wound.

+

It's no wonder he was one of the great swordsmen of the Mist. His strength was incredible.

+

Flexing her hand into a fist, she turned her attention to the outside of the window and watched a bunch of birds fly around. A bird stopped on a branch and hopped around a nest. Small heads poked out of the nest, moving erratically to draw the adult bird's attention. Little baby birds, screaming like hungry devils. This mother bird would have to evenly regurgitate her meal into their mouths. Sakura crinkled her nose a little at the thought of that.

+

I guess that kind of reminds me of Tsunade-sama. She was training me with the force of a monster everyday, like shoving pieces of knowledge down my throat. I wonder what happened to her by now...

+

Sakura's eyes drooped as thoughts of her master flashed inside her mind. She yearned for the connection that had been lost, reflected the years of training that had been reversed, and grieved the dark turn her timeline had taken. Now that everything was in her hands, could she really stay resting as she was, even with her injuries? Her quiet moment was interrupted by the sound of the door opening.

+

"Sakura?" A voice called from behind her, she twisted around with her hands raised as a reflex. The pain instantly faltered her stance.

+

"...Sasuke," she murmured, gritting her teeth. Sasuke was standing by the entrance, holding a bowl with chopsticks placed on top in his hands. The boy's expression seemed mildly shocked for a moment, but then reverted back to a neutral one. Sakura eyed him down as he walked over to her, making her apprehension known. He gently placed the bowl down in front of her, prompting her to relax.

+

She peered down and saw... ramen. There was hints of soup peeking out from the gaps in the noodles, but it looked like a bowl of just pure ramen. Sasuke sighed when he saw her unimpressed face, "Well, it was supposed to be soup, but Naruto added that in so don't blame me. Bye." Turning around hastily, he walked out of the room and shut the door behind him with a small click. Sakura begrudgingly took the bowl into her hands and took a whiff of the ramen. It smelled surprisingly good.

+

Well. At least Naruto has good taste when it comes to this.

+

She smiled inwardly to herself and started eating.

+

——————————

+

"You three just need to climb the tree by the end of the day, you got it?" Kakashi walked over to a particular area in the woods and looked up at the trees. He glanced around as the three genin walked up to him.

+

Naruto groaned, "That's too easy! Let's do something else!" Then out of nowhere, he runs at Kakashi, challenging him to a fight. Kakashi sweat drops and ducks up and down as Naruto tries to hit him with a kunai. Sakura looks on at the scene, lost in her memories. If she was correct, at this phase, Naruto was actually shit at chakra control.

+

Sometimes I wonder how he even progressed to the stage of making his own justu, Sage mode and all of that stuff. He's really something, isn't he?

+

Kakashi exchanged a blow with Naruto, knocking the blond backwards into a bush with a thud! A few moments after landing, Naruto pokes his head out from the top, spitting out a leaf. Kakashi meanders over and thunks the young genin over the head with the side of his book, provoking a small 'hey' from Naruto.

+

"Are you ready to follow the lesson now?"

+

"Fine! It's still a waste of time, though."

+

Sasuke rolls his eyes and gets to his position in front of a tall tree. Sakura walked over to hers, but just as she concentrated chakra at the soles of her feet, she felt the sides of her head pulse, an unsettling familiar yet unfamiliar sensation coursed through her veins. It felt like something was entwined with her chakra, something that was fighting to escape and for control at the same time.

+

W... Who are You?

+

A voice rang through her head. Sakura flinched, a rush of chakra sparked from beneath her and then fizzed out, making her take a few steps back.

+

What was that? A migraine?

+

It was a different kind of feeling, a build up of some sorts. Something was just starting to fester inside of her, something that she had no grasp of yet. Thoughts sprang up and filled her aching brain. Could something be wrong with her body because of her time travel? Terrifying, but, she couldn't let her teammates find out something was wrong. Sakura clenched her jaw and rubbed her forehead. "...Relax." She shook the nerves off and continued to focus on Kakashi, missing the instance of Sasuke side-eyeing her.

+

Kakashi shook his head, "No, Naruto. I meant without using your hands."

+

Naruto scratched his head with confusion, "What the? How do you do that?"

+

Kakashi sighs, "You can stick to the tree by concentrating chakra in your feet, you can pretty much walk on any surfaces you learn this." Perfectly transitioning from the ground to the trunk of the tree, Kakashi walked to the tallest branch and hung upside down from it. "It's easy, like you said, so just do as I did."

+

"Hm, yeah..." Naruto scratched his chin with a thoughtful expression, a contrast to what was going on in his empty head. Seconds later, he was confidently marching to the tree next to Kakashi's for his first attempt. At first, he tried sticking one foot on a tree, but his foot slipped off. Naruto looked confused and tried again, but this time with both feet while closing his eyes and concentrating with all of his might. As expected, his feet didn't stick and he fell onto his bottom.

+

Kakashi shook his head again, "Here, let me- " Kakashi was stopped and turned his head to the sound of rushing footsteps. The two boys followed Kakashi's eyes to see Sakura rush up the tree with ease. She stopped at the top branch and sat down, crossing her legs and looking down at them. Kakashi cleared his throat, "Yes, like that."

+

Kakashi nodded at both Naruto and Sasuke, expecting them to start trying as well. Naruto glanced at Sasuke, he was looking back. They locked eyes, staring at each other with intense determination. Oh yeah, it's rivalry time. At once, they both started scrambling up a tree. Starting off on a bad note, Naruto made the mistake of unbalancing chakra in his feet, which meant his grip was too weak, resulting in him falling down multiple times. However for Sasuke, it was the opposite. Being too focused on putting chakra in his feet caused him to be blasted off the tree with a tiny explosion. Tumbling down at the same time, they sat up and glanced at each other. Naruto gaped at the holes left on the tree that were the size of Sasuke's feet. The prodigy wiped his pants and continued. Naruto quickly got into the groove as well and together they started failing hundreds of times.

+