A/N: Hello, hello! This has been on my mind for sometime, and hopefully it came out right. I know that Sakura going back in time is old news but hey, we all draw inspiration from somewhere! So I hope you enjoy! And constructive criticism is nice :) So review and let me know how you like it. And warning, this will probably be a kakasaku. Rated for language and future content, you know...just in case!
Disclaimer: I own nothing and nobody.
Prologue
"You understand the mission, don't you Sakura?" Rapidly, Tsunade drew the necessary seals onto her young apprentice's bare shoulders and midriff. Numb, and alittle confused, Sakura nodded in response. "Good. You have to do this. You're our last hope."
"Hokage-sama! You need to hurry, he's breaking through our forces." Kakashi's worried tone carried over the battle cries and wounded yelps of the battlefield.
"Don't fucking rush me, Hatake!" The busty blonde snapped, chocolate eyes flashing furiously. "Do everything you need to, to hold him back!"
"Shishou...I...I don't understand." Sakura whimpered, her emerald eyes frantic and the adrenaline pumping through her veins caused her body to quiver in both fear and anticipation. Tsunade's eyes flashed towards her, glaring heartily into the core of the young teen.
"You said you understood the mission, Haruno Don't fucking back out on me now." The medic growled as she continued in her swirls and dots and smooth lines.
"I do, but...why not Naruto? Or...or Kakashi-sensei...or you?"
Tsunade paused in her work, her blood soaked fingers suspended in midair. "We can't. Naruto has a personal agenda that would take priority of the mission. And it's just the way of the world that doesn't allow two beings of the same person to be in two places at once. Kakashi and I wouldn't be able to make it through." Sakura noticed the way her mentor's eyes flooded before they drained completely and she continued with her work. "We're sending you, Sakura. We're putting all of our trust in you." Tsunade wiped the excess blood from her fingers on the hem of her shirt, smearing the off white with crimson. "Don't fail us."
"I'll make you proud, Shishou. I promise."
The woman chuckled deeply a wry tint to the sound with water flooding her eyes again. "You already have, kid. Konoha believes in you. Kakashi believes in you. Naruto believes in you. And most of all, I believe in you." Sakura felt her own eyes wetting as her vision blurred the image of the woman who taught her how to be a kunoichi. Tsunade worked to speak over the rising sounds of the war around them, her face showing nothing but pride. "I've seen you at your worst, Sakura, and I've seen you at your best. There's nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it." Pink strands tickled at her nose while Sakura nodded furiously as she worked to swipe the moisture from her eyes, careful not to smear the work her mentor had done.
"Hokage-sama! It's now or never! Send her through, now!" Kakashi yelled out bending over to help Iruka from the ground, ready to retreat. But he moved too slow and the blast of the bijuu hit before Kakashi was able to fully lift the injured chunnin.
"Kaka-sensei!" Naruto and Sakura cried out in unison, tears flowing free as her first and second teachers were blown away to smithereens. "Sakura-chan, make sure to get the bastard." Naruto growled, his pupils dilated and red before pouncing into action. Sakura watched helplessly as he was batted away with a paw twenty times the teen's size. Trailing the kyuubi container with her eyes she watched as he hit the ground with a thud before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
"Look at me, Sakura." Tsunade demanded, her dirtied fingers gripping Sakura's cheeks and forcing eye contact. "Remember the mission. Find me and give me the scroll. That comes before anything else. I know myself better than anyone else, make me listen. Don't take no for an answer." Tsunade spoke quickly, working through the hand seals. Sakura watched with wide eyes as Obito struck the Slug Sannin through the back. Blood flowed freely from the open wound, splattering against Sakura's pale cheeks. "Go forth, Sakura. And kick his ass back to the hell he fucking came from!" Tsunade's feral grin caused Sakura to offer one in turn as a slim, manicured hand came up, thumb over her middle nail she strained her hands until she released completely. Sakura was knocked back by the force of the flick, the spot on her forehead where her new mark had formed, bruised from the attack.
It was like a dream, or a movie on rewind. She watched as everything flew back. In a blink she was at the Kage Summit, Danzou in place of Tsunade. Releasing a breath she was back in Konoha, healing incoming jounin and chunnin from Pein's attack. A heartbeat later she was running through the second stage of the chunnin exam, a stand in as the third member along with Choji and Ino. She knocked down her first tree, with a single punch. Revived her first fish. Standing before Tsunade, determined to be accepted as an apprentice. Moments in her time, moments out of her time. She was rushing back, images blurring and voices whirring. It was too much.
"Congratulations. As of today, you are genin!" Iruka exclaimed, grinning at the cheers it erupted.
It was the room of cheering graduates that flashed through her eyes before her mind went black. Limbs heavy, she followed the laws of gravity and fell. It was a strange sensation, falling into darkness. There was no end and there was no beginning, just an endless amount of space for her to hurdle downwards. If she didn't know better she would think she was suspended in air, but her freely flowing hair told her otherwise. She was going down and she was going down fast. But she couldn't control her limbs and there was no lingering feel of chakra in her. She could do nothing as she fell to her possible demise. So she waited, allowing the darkness to blanket her until she landed with a thunk and all conscious thought left her like a breath of air.