A/N: Okay, so I know that Sakura time travel fics are often done, but I love them so much! I feel like being able to go back and change some of the aspects of the story-line with Sakura in charge is so fun. Though I have read a shit ton of Sakura time travel fics, the two that have influenced this story the most are: A Twist in Time by wolf08 and Reversing Time by havanatitiana. I highly advise that you check those two out as they are INCREDIBLE stories. Anyway, this fic will stray from cannon pretty damn quick and will be LONG.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto at all. Who do you think I am? Someone that cool? All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
She knew it was too late once she saw the blinding light coming her way. What was there left to do? Stopping those two was impossible at this point, so she only had three choices left. Let Sasuke and Naruto kill her in hopes they'd realize that their feud was meaningless, let Sasuke and Naruto kill each other, or utilize that jutsu. Logically, the latter was the way to go; it involved no killing, but there was such a large margin for error, Sakura couldn't help but feel uneasy. Realizing she had hardly two seconds left before she would die, she acted on instinct. Her hands flew through the signs without even thinking, the seals on her body illuminating as the jutsu was put into action.
"You two are such idiots!" She exclaimed as she finished the final hand-sign. "Look what I had to do to fix your mistakes!"
She clenched her eyes shut, awaiting pain. If the jutsu didn't work, she would be doubly impaled by a rasengan and a chidori; if the jutsu did work, she would likely experience pain similar in caliber minus her death.
The pain hit. It felt like every cell in her body was being individually ripped to shreds, reassembled, then destroyed again. It was so blinding and so incapacitating, she couldn't even tell if she was screaming. After what felt like an eternity, the pain began to subside. She regained feeling in her limbs and quickly realized that she had survived. That meant-oh god. Sakura paled as she realized the implications of her success. After the horror she had seen in the past month, from the death of those close to her, to the horribly mutilated bodies on the battlefield, she knew facing her peers again was going to be difficult.
She sat up in her bed, scanning the room. A wave of nostalgia washed over her as she recognized the pink and red wallpaper she had as a child. As she rolled out of bed, she also realized how much smaller and weaker she was. Since her main purpose now was to alter the future and stop Sasuke, she would have to train like crazy to make up for her nearly emaciated state. She rummaged through her wardrobe, picking out the clothes she wore when she was twelve, cringing at the impracticality and childness qualities. Sighing deeply, she changed into them. Before she left the room, she remembered what important thing was happening today. She was going to be assigned a team.
This means that I can start off on a better foot with Sasuke! She realized, grinning at her epiphone. Maybe if I don't seem like a total fangirl, he'll appreciate team seven more.
Sakura began to formulate her new plan. Step one, she decided, was her physical appearance. Since she had woken up earlier than she needed to, she took the extra time to cut her flowy pink hair and change into a more practical outfit. Feeling satisfied with her new look, she dashed out of her house, trying not to let her mother see her.
"I'm leaving now mom!" Sakura announced once she had reached the door, relishing the fact that she could address her mother in such a carefree way, "It's my first day of being a genin, remember!"
"Have a good day honey," Mebuki started before stepping into the front hallway, "Sakura your hair!" By the time she had made her exclamation, Sakura was far out the door.
Sakura took a deep breath before entering the academy. She braced herself for the tsunami of memories that would surely follow seeing her friends again. As hard as she tried to push the scenes of their grisly deaths to the back of her mind, they always found a way to resurface. Sakura was positive that seeing them as carefree children would force the memories straight to the front of her mind so she simply braced herself for impact.
"I got here before you billboard-brow!" A familiar high-pitched voice greeted her, "Looks like I get to sit next to Sasuke now!"
Sakura couldn't help but smile when she saw her best-friend/enemy standing in front of her, alive. "Are you sure Sasuke wants to be fawned over?" Sakura replied, shooting Ino a quizzical look, "We're ninja now. That means that we should act like one… Ino-pig." Sakura tagged on for good measure.
"What's wrong with you? Also why on earth did you cut your hair?"
"Long hair is impractical." Sakura stated simply. She really wanted to rekindle her friendship with the Yamanaka, but she was having a hard time acting the proper way. She felt as if she had been through hell and back, making acting like a preteen girl very difficult for her. While Sakura had been lost in thought, she had failed to notice the odd stares she had been receiving from her classmates; especially Sasuke.Sakura looked at the Uchiha and felt shivers go down her spine. Though she didn't want to admit it, the boy was still attractive to her. The longer she looked at him, the more complicated feelings raced through her body. She felt love, fear, sadness, nostalgia, and anger all in the few seconds she had been reunited with Sasuke.
"What are you staring at?" She quickly retorted, trying not to sound angry, but merely curious.
As she expected, Sasuke looked away as if nothing had happened.
"Sakura-chan!" An overtly bright voice called, "You're kinda different now, but I still think you're awesome. Wanna sit next to me?"
Sakura realized that she could improve the team seven dynamic if she acted kind to Naruto. Not to mention, the boy had become one of her best friends.
"Sure Naruto." She replied, sliding into the booth next to him. "Are you excited to find out what team you're on?"
"Hell yeah I am!" He exclaimed, "I hope we're on the same team. Then I can always protect you!"
"Thank you Naruto, but I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself. I do hope we're on the same team though!"
"You're really awesome Sakura-chan. Wanna get some ramen with me tonight?"
"I'll run it past my parents." Sakura cringed at the fact that she'd have to speak to her parents like they hadn't died in front of her eyes a few days ago.
Naruto grinned happily again and bent in to whisper something into Sakura's ear. "I hope we're not on the same team as Sasuke-teme, he seems really annoying."
Sakura did nothing but laugh. In all reality, she wasn't sure how to respond. Though it was true that she wanted to love Sasuke, the horrible crimes he had committed made her feel rather uneasy. But this wasn't the Sasuke she knew before. Sure he was still a moody, emo kid, but he wasn't a murderer yet. Sakura decided that her main goal was to make sure Sasuke was never consumed by darkness.
Sakura sat on the roof with her new genin team. This time, she was going to make a good impression with her sensei, and be sure to not come off as a fangirl.
"So before we get started, tell me about yourself. Your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, and hobbies." Kakashi-sensei instructed.
"You seem shady, you go first." Naruto gave Kakashi a suspicious look.
"Okay, my name is Kakashi. I like some things and dislike others. As for my dreams, I'd rather not tell you. I suppose I don't have any hobbies."
"You only told us your name!" Sakura and Naruto exclaimed in unison.
"You go first." Kakashi ignored the previous comment and pointed to Naruto.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen and I dislike the three minutes it takes for the ramen to cook. My hobby is playing pranks and I want to be the best Hokage ever!"
Kakashi pointed to Sakura.
"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like to read about medical ninjutsu and I like to train. I dislike… well, evil people. My goal is to save someone from succumbing to the darkness. And I suppose my hobby is trying different sweets." Sakura worried that she had said too much when Sasuke looked at her with a surprised expression.
The files that Iruka had on her seemed completely different. Kakashi thought quizzically. She was made out to be a complete fangirl with a decent amount of intelligence but nearly no shinobi skills.
"You're so awesome Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed. He whipped out a kunai and made a cut in his hand, "Can you heal this for me?"
"Naruto!" Sakura chastised, "Why did you do that? I'll heal you though, just don't do that again."
Sakura brought her hands to Naruto's, channeling soft chakra into the wound. It took far more effort than Sakura was used to, but her hands began to glow a light green as the cut on Naruto's hand stitched itself back together.
"Whoah." Naruto's eyes glimmered with awe, "That was really, freaking cool."
"Anyway," Kakashi cleared his throat, "On with the introductions."
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like anything and I dislike a lot of things. My dream wouldn't be called a dream because I will make it a reality. I will avenge my clan and kill a certain someone."
Kakashi expected no less from the Uchiha. In fact, the two boys on the team seemed to follow Iruka's reports exactly, making Sakura stand out even more. Not to mention, her knowledge of medical ninjutsu far surpassed the capabilities of a fresh genin; the last medical prodigy had been Tsunade, and even she learned medical ninjutsu at about chunin. Kakashi decided to look into Sakura's sudden improvement in skill.
"Now that we know each other, meet me at the training grounds at 6:00 A.M, sharp. You will be doing a survival test with a 66% fail rate. Remember to not eat breakfast. If you do, you'll puke."
Sakura wandered home, lost in thought. She realized that she needed to have a set of goals if she wanted to change anything for the better; that was why she was in the past anyway.
Saving Sasuke has to be my top priority. She thought, nodding to herself. If he doesn't give in to the curse of hatred, the entire war can be avoided. In order to do that though, I'll have to make sure he doesn't get branded by Orochimaru. If that somehow works out, I'll find Tsunade and have her train me further. Sakura shuddered as she remembered the day that Tsunade threw herself in front of the barrage of in coming kunai in order to protect her and Naruto. She had told them that they were the last hopes of Konoha, and that they would have to do everything in their power to protect Konoha. Unfortunately, Sasuke attacked Naruto the following day.
Sakura wiped away the tears collecting in the corners of her eyes and kept walking towards her house. Being in the past made her remember just how much she loved Sasuke, and how much his approval meant to her. Just his surprised eyes when she mentioned her goal had sent her heart fluttering, and the blood rushing to her head. While she was deep in thought, she didn't notice the aforementioned Uchiha approach her.
"Sakura." He said, walking beside her, "You're different."
"What do you mean Sasuke?" She asked, trying to sound genuinely confused and also trying to conceal her surprise.
"You seem to possess skills you didn't have before."
Sakura racked her mind, trying to find some appropriate reason for why she would have kept her prodigious medical talents secret. "I always had the skills Sasuke, you just never cared to notice." She spat out, instantly regretting her sudden wave of anger.
Sasuke looked taken aback by her uncharacteristic behavior. "I noticed enough." He replied nonchalantly, "You're different."
"M-maybe I was just getting tired of you never acknowledging me." Sakura was regretting every word that came out of her mouth, yet she did nothing to stop the flow of probably detrimental sentences. "I know I was an annoying fangirl but-but I tried. If you had told me-just once-that you were looking into getting stronger instead and not looking for girls instead of crushing my heart and brushing me off, maybe I wouldn't have been so clingy. You know what? You're annoying Sasuke." Sakura realized how much their situations had changed.
Sasuke looked at Sakura with big, confused eyes. What is wrong with her? He thought, discreetly checking for disturbances in her chakra. When he found none, he simply frowned to himself and walked away, acting aloof and unaffected.
Sakura tried to put her painful past behind her and start this new life over, using her memories to guide her, not haunt her, but she was having trouble treating her peers the way she was supposed to. Especially Sasuke. She was well aware that she still harbored feelings for him, but she couldn't shake the terrible memories of his chidori aimed at her chest, or the look of hatred in her eyes when he looked at her. Sakura shuddered and set her mind on formulating a plan for the following day.
Content with her strategy, she climbed into her sickly pink bed and fell asleep.
Sasuke was looking at her with deep contempt. His eyes were a deep crimson, adorned with a six-sided black star in the center. His look alone made Sakura feel as if he was uttering a string of disparaging comments though his mouth never once moved from its hateful smirk.
"You're weak." He sneered, finally speaking, "You're weak now, and you will always be weak."
Sakura wanted to break down and cry. She knew she was weaker than Sasuke, but was all of her hard training really for naught? Was she still that cowering, pathetic, little girl? "I may not be as strong as you," Sakura started, trying to keep her voice steady, "but I assure you that I am not weak. I can crush boulders with my pinky and I can heal virtually any wound. Not to mention, I have something you don't."
Sasuke smirked again, "Now what would that be?"
"I have friends! And I have bonds that make me stronger!" Sakura exclaimed confidently, "When you forsook your bonds for blind revenge, you lost the potential to be truly strong!"
"You still believe the crap that Konoha shoves down your throat? In order to be strong, you can not let pathetic bonds get in the way. That is why you're weak."
"You're wrong!" Sakura cried, smashing the ground with her foot, "You're so blinded by revenge, that you can't see how Naruto, the loser has become stronger than you by fighting for the people he loves."
Sasuke shot Sakura a slightly surprised look, "I don't believe you." He replied simply, sending his chidori stream right at Sakura's chest.
If Sakura had looked away any sooner, she wouldn't have noticed the look of regret that flashed over Sasuke's face when he thought that Sakura would be killed. The look was subtle, but Sakura knew Sasuke well. She knew what he felt.
Realizing that she was in a memory, Sakura waited for Kakashi to swoop in and bring her to safety like he had before, but she didn't see the telltale mop of white hair. Panic was beginning to set in when she realized that it was too late for her to dodge. The blinding blue light crackled menacingly as it came closer to her, ready to impale her. The jutsu was getting closer and closer, soon she could feel the heat, her hair was standing on end, it was mere millimeters away…
Sakura's eyes flew open. She was twisted in the sheets of her bed, still a genin. Blinking several times, she glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was 6:05, a perfectly decent time to wake up. Sliding off her bed, she walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. When she looked in the mirror, her still-round, rosy, preteen face gazed back at her, devoid of any scars or signs of suffering. Though she understood that the face gazing back at her was her own, she couldn't help but feel like she didn't fit. Though she was in the form of a young, happy happy girl who had never seen war, she was plagued by the images of war and suffering. She figured that nightmares would continue to be a regular occurance as they had been previously, but she was good at blocking them out.
Putting all of those thoughts behind her, she dressed for the day and decided to go to the training grounds before her teammates arrived and long, long before Kakashi even bothered to show up.
The training ground was empty as expected. Sakura shivered slightly in the cool morning wind and began to run laps to mitigate the cold. While she ran, she focused solely on the feeling of her muscles working to propel her forwards and the way her short hair fluttered like a flag in the wind. Once she was sufficiently warm, she began to test her strength. She could tell that her seal of one hundred healings was laying dormant in her, not taking its position in the center of her large forehead; hopefully, she would not need to call upon that seal as it would completely blow her cover.
Thankfully, she was stronger than she had been as a genin in her previous life. Her memories and expertise had remained the same, but her physical strength and chakra reserves were abysmal. Thankfully, she could kill two birds with one stone by doing vigorous physical training. Knowing that she had about thirty minutes until her teammates arrived, she stretched her muscles and polished her plan for the bell test.
It was obvious that Sasuke would be completely adverse to working with either her or Naruto. Especially after their not-so-pleasant exchange the previous day. It would take a good deal of convincing to get Sasuke to even consider going along with her plan. Naruto, on the other hand, would be gung-ho for working with Sakura but would completely refuse if he had to work with Sasuke. All in all, she would have to state an extremely convincing and moving case if she wanted to get anything done. She could also let everything play out the exact same way as they had before, but she wanted to make things better. Especially between her and Sasuke; she obviously hadn't been going to well though.
She could feel Sasuke's presence approaching the training grounds. She smiled to herself, realizing how small his chakra reserves were now compared to his in the future. He truly was so much younger. She decided that now would be a good time to apologize for their feud.
"Hey Sasuke," she started, unintentionally dropping the suffix, "I'm sorry about yesterday. I suppose I was just getting fed up. I promise I won't let my personal feelings get in the way of our team dynamic anymore since teamwork is what makes a team great. Without cooperation, teams would be nothing." Sakura tried to hint at the fact that they'd need to work together during the test and she really hoped that Sasuke would catch the drift.
"It's okay." Sasuke replied, surprising Sakura with something more than a monosyllabic grunt, "I-I suppose I was a bit harsh before." Sasuke's last sentence came out as a whisper.
Sakura's eyes lit up with happiness. Sasuke just apologized to me! She thought giddily. That means our relationship is already stronger! Unbeknownst to her, she would be really valuing their blossoming friendship in the not-so-far future.
A/N: What do you think? Please give your feedback, I'd really appreciate it!