* prologue *

"What makes you think you are dead?" a figure asked.

"Who are you?"

The figure turned around. Basked in light, the figure was floating in mid-air, cross-legged. He answered, "I desire peace and order among all the lands and it is my will to achieve it. My name is Hagoromo."

The light shined in that instance, almost strategically, on the shadowed planes of his face. No one could doubt the purple rings in his eyes. "Those eyes! The rinnegan!"

"My time has come a long ago. I am Hagoromo, better known as The Sage of Six Paths, or the founder of the ninja creed."

"The Sage of Six Paths? I have some questions for you!"

"Silence!" Hagoromo pounded his staff to the surface of the ground, which upon closer examination happened to be all water, and the pressure caused a rippling effect. "We don't have much time. You see, my form is not of the corporeal plane and there isn't much time before I disappear again.

"I had foreseen all these events that have come to pass. Though it is my great regret that I haven't been able to do anything about it. Since my body no longer exists in this world as yours does, I wasn't able to intervene in any of these past circumstances that have now bred only war and hate. So it is my intention to send you back to change these circumstances, hopefully for the better. But it will be up to you to decide what you must do."

Reaching his hands out, Hagoromo asked, "Will you accept?"

* chapter 1 *

Dirt clung to her clothes. Blood caked on her skin. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't save them. She poured and poured out all the chakra she had and then some, but it was all futile. Corpses were littered all around them, and death pervaded her senses. Nothing could be done.

Sakura woke up early in the morning, wiping the sweat off her forehead. At some point in the night, her covers lay abandoned hanging off the bed and onto the floor.

Not knowing what had prompted this nightmare, Sakura shook her head, trying to clear her mind. She needed to be focused today because in just a couple of hours, she would be starting her second exam of the Chunnin Exams. She couldn't allow herself to be distracted when Sasuke and Naruto were counting on her. Taking a deep breath, she got out of bed and decided to get ready early. She double-checked the contents of her bag that she had already packed the night before. Deciding it couldn't hurt, especially after the dream she had, she reminded herself to stop by the store to stock up on basic medical supplies on her way to the exam.

After getting ready and eating breakfast, she waved her parents goodbye before setting out.

She remembered to stop by the store to stock up on more medical supplies. The errand had taken her longer than she'd expected. She had taken great care to peruse through the aisles, trying to decide what would be the most useful and efficient in field settings. Thanking the store clerk after paying for her items, she headed towards the training grounds, beyond which would be the Forest of Death.

She hadn't taken more than a few steps into the training grounds when she spotted Sasuke and Naruto in the distance, in deep discussion.

Waving her hands, she called out in recognition, "Sasuke-kun! Naruto!" At that, they looked up in surprise, even Sasuke who was usually never taken by surprise had looked at her with wide eyes.

Running towards them hurriedly, she crouched over panting to catch her breath when she was just a few feet's distance, before straightening up. "What are you guys just doing standing here? Since we're all here, we can go in together!"

"Eh, Sakura-chan? Go where?" asked Naruto.

"To the Forest of Death, of course! The Chunnin Exams should be starting soon. We'll be right on time," replied Sakura.

"The Chunnin Exams?!" shouted a bewildered Naruto.

The three of them had been running since the gates had opened. Seeing that the sky was beginning to grey, they decided to take a break and stop at a clearing, setting their packs down to make camp for the night.

Sasuke had set off to gather wood to build a fire, and Naruto had hurried after him, mumbling about needing to use the restroom, which left Sakura alone in the clearing. She sat against a tree, waiting for them to come back. She noted that Naruto had been acting rather strangely since she met up with them for the exams. Sasuke, as usual, was his silent self. But oddly, Naruto was as well. Maybe he was more nervous about the exams than he had let on, she wondered. Shrugging it off and without much to do, she rifled through her pack once more, when she saw Sasuke and Naruto coming back.

However, before they could quite reach her, a sudden gust of wind broke through right in between them, causing her to fall back. It blew through the entire clearing, cutting up trees left and right, and causing scratches in her skin.

When she was able to stand up again, she saw that Sasuke had his Sharingan on and his gaze was not directed at her, but somewhere behind her.

"Orochimaru."

Naruto's expression was almost as serious, his steely eyes also directed behind her.

Sakura felt the thick tension in the air and the crawling feeling of a large shadow looming over her. She was almost afraid to turn around, to discover the recipient of Sasuke and Naruto's hard stares.

Her body froze, unwilling to move, so she turned her head over her shoulder to look behind her. Immediately, Sakura let out a gasp as she saw that she was staring at the body of snake, so much bigger than herself. Forcing herself to move, she turned to face the snake, which she was standing directly in front of. Was this snake called Orochimaru as Sasuke had said? Sakura wondered. And if so, how did Sasuke know it? Or was it a him? Craning her neck, she looked up to realize that there was a man standing at the head of this large snake. Was that who Sasuke was talking about?

She had no more time to think about the scene before her as the snake's head suddenly descended right towards her. She had no time to react when she heard Naruto shout out her name. Falling, Sakura saw in her blurred vision the man that Sasuke had called Orochimaru and the sound of quick footsteps approaching her before she passed out.

Groaning, Sakura sat up, clutching her head. She had a throbbing headache, but other than that, she appraised herself to find that she had no serious wounds. Just some scratches here and there. Nothing that she felt needed to be healed with chakra.

She found that she had been lying down in the shade of a tree. A few distances away, she could hear the fighting. Sounds of kunai and shuriken clashing against each other. She could hear the whirring of Naruto's Rasengan. And his subsequent battle cry. Naruto! I have to help him!

Deciding she had no time to waste, she ran to where the battle ensued. However, when she got to the clearing, the first thing she saw was Sasuke. No, not just Sasuke. Orochimaru, with his neck extended, heading right towards Sasuke.

Out of instinct, she yelled out, "No! Sasuke-kun! The curse mark!" Again, she was surprised to see Sasuke look towards her with surprise in his eyes. Then, a smirk, and he had already turned his attention back to the battle before him. She had no idea what was happening, but she noticed that Orochimaru had stilled just before claiming Sasuke's neck to bestow upon him a "great power."

Seeing that Sasuke could handle his own for now, she looked around the clearing. She found that Naruto had fallen a couple feet away from the altercation, and ran towards him. When she reached him, Naruto was already getting up, grumbling, "That snake bastard."

"Naruto! Are you okay?" Sakura asked in concern, as she helped him up. Seeing that he had some injuries, her hands glowed green, about to heal his stomach, when she felt a tight grasp on her wrist.

"Sakura-chan! Your hands! The medical ninjutsu! You remember?!"

"Remember? Of course I know medical ninjutsu. Naruto, have you been awake all these years?" Sakura chided, and then, a gasp as she fully recognized the situation she was in. All her memories came flooding into her, her past, present, and future colliding with each other. She looked at Naruto, and saw that he was no longer the Naruto, who was hailed as the hero of the Leaf village after taking down Pein, but the goofy kid who was still shorter than her with mere dreams of being Hokage. Running her hand through her hair, she saw that it wasn't just Naruto who had been different, but her as well. She found her pink hair to be long. She hadn't wore her hair like that since the Chunnin Exams when she had her long strands chopped off, in a vain attempt to keep Sasuke and Naruto safe. And now, when she was really thinking about it, the Sasuke she had just seen fighting with Orochimaru was not the Sasuke she had been recently re-acquainted with, who had belatedly decided to fight on Konoha's behalf in the war against Madara. It had been the concern for Sasuke's well-being and adrenaline that had her automatically warning him of Orochimaru's intentions before she even had a chance to grasp what was going on.

Just what was happening?

"We can all talk later. We should go help Sasuke," said Naruto.

Nodding her head, Sakura matched her pace to Naruto's to reach Sasuke. When they did, Sakura found that Orochimaru was still frozen in movement. She heard Naruto ask what was happening to which Sasuke had flashed the red of his eyes and simply replied, "Genjutsu."

Suddenly, the three of them went on full alert as they felt another chakra quickly approaching them. Orochimaru's comrades? thought Sakura.

Snapping her attention back on Orochimaru, she saw that Orochimaru had broken free of the Genjutsu, blood dripping from the hand that he had stabbed himself with a kunai. This was not good. It would be a difficult battle if they were to fight both Orochimaru and one of his supporters.

However, unexpectedly, Orochimaru jumped back to distance himself from them. Noticing Orochimaru hold out his hands for a hand sign, Sakura readied herself for an incoming attack, but instead, saw Orochimaru vanish into thin air using a teleportation technique. Just before he had vanished, Orochimaru had hissed, "Reinforcements. You are strong with that Sharingan of yours, Sasuke. But your body will be mine."

The chakra that had been quickly approaching them suddenly broke into the clearing, and it was none other than Anko, their proctor for the second exam. She glanced around them in all directions before muttering to herself, "I could have sworn I felt his chakra until a second ago…." Then, to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, she asked, "Were you guys here alone?"

Recognizing Sasuke's apathy and Naruto's dumbfoundedness, Sakura knew neither was going to be helpful in situations such as this one. However, she didn't know what the best answer would be either. Shrugging, she decided to play dumb, "Yes, it was just the three of us. But sensei, what are you doing here?"

"Well, listen up, you maggots, the Chunnin Exams as of now is over! The exams have been canceled and you guys are all ordered to head to the central tower and wait for further instructions from Lord Hokage!" said Anko. Not bothering to stick around, she teleported out of there immediately, leaving Team 7 to themselves.

Now that they didn't seem to be in any immediate danger, Sakura took the time to survey the scene. And she had no idea what to make of it. She had gone from fighting in the Fourth Great Ninja War to her first Chunnin Exams with Sasuke and Naruto, not long after they had first become genin. She felt an odd sense of dejavu. But this time, Orochimaru hadn't given Sasuke the curse mark. Just what could all of this mean?

Looking over from Sasuke to Naruto, she said, "Naruto, explain."