This accounts for this whole story; I do NOT own Naruto.

With A Broken Soul

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but simply moving on with dignity despite that fear." -Pat Riley

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I question myself as I enter a room, a very special room. It may not look special but it is for me, as this may be the last room I ever enter in this reality, in this dimension. Everybody knows what is occurring, everybody knows they may never experience the changes I do, but they believe I am the best fit for the job and that I deserve this. Though, I do not agree. I did nothing to help this situation and I am no longer weak. I could have been doing something out there, in the war. But I did not; I sat at home, healing the wounded that were able to return home.

I was pulled out of the field not long ago, as Tsunade was eager to let me know some news and wanted me to get ready for today. I was not very happy with her decision but she was sticking to it. I tried to reason with her, that it should be her, but she just replied with "I'm too old" and continued on with the information. She also informed me that I do not need to write a report, but I feel as if that is a given. How could I possibly send a report through time?

I don't quite understand how everybody could have such faith in me. They believe I will stick to the mission. What if I don't? Nobody would ever know, for all they know, I could be the one who ends up destroying the village. Though, even I know that I would never even dare pull a stunt like that. I wouldn't even joke about it.

Sighing as I close the door behind me, I made my way to the center of the room, in the middle of a large seal on the floor. This is where it will happen, where my life restarts and I fix my mistakes, everybody's mistakes. It's a large burden, but do I even have a choice? My life has been rewritten already, the ideal by everyone around me. I know I can't and won't stick by everything, but there are some similar goals between everyone around me and myself.

The monster inside me whined, making me wince. She did not want to deal with this, and I agreed. This whole thing is crazy. Time travel? It's probably a freak experiment and I'm going to turn into a huge ugly monster that wants to hug ponies. I don't even know. I feel like that is more likely than time traveling. Though I guess I'll just go along with the idea.

Tsunade enters the room, her eyes lingering on my figure for some time before closing the door behind her. She pulls on her gloves, not knowing what may occur. Well, this is a very forbidden technique, so yes, anything is possible. She may even die trying to send me back to the past. She steps closer to the scripts on the floor, but not entering the circle. Before she begins, she looks up at me with sadness in her eyes, but also determination and pride. She has faith in me when I do not. Closing my eyes as to signal for her to begin, she starts to make hand signs. The scripts are glowing, wind is somehow picking up inside this enclosed room. It is time, now or never.

SAKURA-CHAN!

I glare at the door which is now opened, showing a bruised and battered blonde knucklehead. Troublesome. Though, his interruption did not make Tsunade falter, as she knew as well, now or never. Though something that neither of us expected happened, after Tsunade finished and it seemed as I was just about to disappear, Naruto pushed Tsunade into the circle.

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A loud ringing in my ear made me semi-conscious. My head was spinning as I tried to evaluate my surroundings. Once I had finally processed that I was in my room and in my bed, I jolted up and to the mirror and calendar to find out if the Jutsu worked. I take a deep breath before looking into the mirror, revealing a younger me, with long hair still. This revealed another vital piece of information; it's before the second part of the chunnin exams. Of course this could mean any time before then, but I have a vague understanding of time which tells me (obviously) that I am not 8 years old. I look around to see if I have my headband yet, and to my enjoyment I found it. Mentally calculating what part of time I traveled to, my brain clicked and told me to check the calendar. I know when I was younger that I checked where the Chunnin exams began, so if it is on the calendar I could figure out exactly what day I'm at.

Of course, I find the Chunnin exams marked for the starting day, but the day is crossed off. This means that today would be the day we begin part two of the Chunnin exams. Of course this is frustrating since I am not yet used to this small body and I have no idea what type of side effects will occur. For all I understand I could have come back with the ability to perform the Justus I know or I could have lost all my abilities and have to train all over again. Though I still have my memory so it shouldn't be too hard, but I know my stamina shouldn't have come through as that is a physical trait. This also reminds me, the monster I harbor is under seals in this time. I'm going to have to do everything on my own. Troublesome.

Now that I think about it, why is my house so quiet? I know for a fact that my parents are supposed to be alive during this time period, but yet again that could be a side effect. Exiting my room, still not changed, I check my house to find it empty. They are civilian so they wouldn't be out on a mission and there are no notes around the house. I don't bother checking their room as I can already tell they are gone.

I re-enter my room, sighing remembering my very unpractical uniform. I hope I have something in my closet that could be used. Rummaging through my closet I sigh in relief as I find a small box in the corner filled with dusty practical ninja clothing. It was simple and consisted of a fishnet shirt, which I placed over my bound chest, a black V-neck shirt which had slits on the side to promote more flexibility, a vest which resembled a jounins, and a pair of brown shorts. Tying my hair in a high ponytail, I slip my brown (since blue would be too noticeable) ninja sandals and exited my house, locking the door behind me.

I continue down the street, passing the Yamanaka flower store. A frown grew on my face after remembering about our quarrel. I know that I am the one who broke up our friendship, and it's going to be hard for me to be bitter towards her, but maybe that's something I can change. I sigh, turning a corner. I wasn't heading towards the forest of death, since it was way too early to be heading there. I was making my way towards a small shop filled with weapons and ninja gear. Of course I would have to completely redo my wardrobe and stuff. Stepping in the small shop I looked around for weapons, since I was interested in trying out a new type of fighting style. Walking up to the glass cased counter, I looked at the beautifully designed katana's. Of course since I am a close combat type of style, I'm not going to choose a long katana. Finally I find on very appealing to my eyes. The blade was black, with a silver cherry blossom design going down and around the blade. The hilt was simple yet magnificent, at the end of the hilt there was two strings hanging down, holding the ying sign on one and the yang on the other. It was beautiful and not too long as to force me to change my fighting style too much. Evaluating the shop, I searched for the store owner. The man was very average, though his hands told a large story as they were very rough and beaten, signifying his hard work as a swords smith. I didn't need to say much as he had noticed what I had been looking/drooling at.

My breath catches as the man places the blade and its sheath on the counter. I look up to him wanting to know the price, but before I could say anything he spoke.

"You seem so mesmerized by this sword, and I have to agree it's very beautiful. I had made this for a friend of mine years ago but she had died on a mission before I could give it to her. You remind me of her. Your eyes look so similar to hers, and your hair the same pastel pink. It's an oddity really, your hair color, but it's very fitting. So, just don't worry about the price, as I've been waiting for someone I thought worthy to have it, and you my dear, are perfect. Please, take it! I feel that you could do wonders with this at your fingertips!"

My mouth was agape once he had finished talking. Did he just give me the sword for free?

"Oh my! I don't even know what to say! Oh my… Thank you so much sir!" Of course I still gave him some money, which he tried to refuse but I picked up a pair of gloves and waved out the door as he gave me a soft smile and a wave in return. I couldn't just go in and not pay for something, and either way I needed some gloves as my hands were not calloused at all and would bleed easily when I start fighting.

I look up at the sky to check how much time I have left to get to the forest of death, and of course I had spent too much time in the shop as I only had about a minute to get to the other side of the village. Ugh, time to start pumping the chakra I don't have into my feet. As I push chakra to my feet as I bolt to the other side of the village, I catch the chakra signature of Orochimaru. It's not a surprise of course, but it's not at all a welcome signature. I am not very ready to fight him, and not at all ready to protect Sasuke from him.

I jump into the large area where people are gathered waiting or Anko to give orders and rules. My eyes scan the area searching for my team, but it ends up they find me first.

"SAKURA-CHAN! YOU'RE LATE!" With a sigh I turn around and side step the flying Naruto heading towards me, causing him to miss me and have his face slammed into the dirt. I notice I am already out of character as first off I'm late, and second is I haven't started yelling yet. Though I'm not in the mood to yell, much less speak. I sigh at my teammates before turning around towards where Anko was and sitting on the ground. Somehow, this aggravated Sasuke as I could feel his eyes boring into my back.

Anko began to speak, causing Sasuke and Naruto to move their attention to her and what she had been saying. Since I already heard her little speech years ago, I un-wrap my new katana. I hadn't any time before I left the shop to tie it to my waste, nor take it out of the bag. Though, as I was tying the Katana to my waste, Anko had appeared beside me, attempting to startle me. I decided to not play along, and just look up at her. "Did you hear anything that I said you arrogant brat?" She spit at me.

I just chuckled before answering, earning me a harder glare from Anko. "Actually, I know everything you said, word for word, and know what you are going to say next, word for word." Of course she didn't believe me as she scoffed at my statement. Everybody around me looked scared, but not for themselves, for me. If only they knew.

"Oh okay smart ass, like to recite for me?" She said with a large grin, thinking I was bluffing. My groan probably made her feel triumphant, but it didn't last for long since I stood up then, still with the katana in my hand and began to repeat what she had said some years ago. After I had finished her mouth was agape, Naruto was shouting, and Sasuke was smirking. She had been speechless as she returned to the front of the group, looking at everyone before asking, "Did everyone get that or must I repeat it?"

I didn't sit back down as I knew we were heading for the gates, so I just stood up as I tied my katana to my waste, searching for Orochimaru. He wasn't hard to spot with that large purple rope around his/her waste. As Anko announced what gates to go to and gave us what we needed, I kept my eyes on Orochimaru, checking which gate he was sent to.

Once Orochimaru is out of sight, I look at the gate in front of me, my newly "bought" katana around my waste and my hair swaying in its high ponytail. The adrenaline rushes through me, my body knowing everything that is to come. I may not be ready completely, but I have enough confidence in myself that I won't die in here, and that I won't allow Orochimaru to get his hands on Sasuke.

With new found courage, I dash into the forest of death, Sasuke and Naruto beside me. I will change the future.

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This took me two day's to write :c But I got it done! I'm really excited for this story and hope you all enjoy it as well! Next chapter should be up by Tuesday!