Author's note: Rated for language, though if I stick to Canon, I expect there to be a good deal of violence as well. I don't have any (non-canon) pairings planned yet. One character is OOC for, well, the purpose of the story.
Questions? Comments? I'd love to hear from ya.
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, it'd be called 'Gaara'. 'Nuff said.
There are many methods of achieving immortality. Fame. Fortune. Heroic deeds. Creativity. Lots and lots of descendants. However, the one you should favor is Not Dying.
Kelly walked slowly through the department store, not eyeing the clothing or the jewelry, or, for that matter, anything in the store. She wasn't walking slowly because she wanted to, or because she found it interesting. Kelly walked slowly because it hurt, and more importantly, if she didn't walk very carefully, she could fall, and injure herself, and then she wouldn't be able to get her manga. The next volume of Naruto was out, and she wanted to read it badly. She knew she was obsessed, and that it probably wasn't healthy to care so much about a glorified comic, but it beat being obsessed over her latest surgery or medicine adjustments.
Kelly felt a tightening in her chest and realized, too late, she'd walked through the perfume section rather then around it. Oh well. She had her inhaler, and besides, she just knew that she wasn't gonna die before the manga ended. It was a feeling she had, since the first volume she read. Naruto was special. The whole Naruto world was special. Kelly smiled and walked steadily forward. If hard work could overcome genius, then she could overcome this illness. Or at least stick around until the series was finished. She even smiled at the clerk, who smiled back and sprayed a sample of perfume in front of her.
Oh, fudgsicles, Kelly thought, digging through her bag for her inhaler, trying to remain calm as the pain in her chest intensified a hundred times and she started to feel dizzy. Where was it? Oh, that's right.
It was in her other purse.
She woke up in a hospital bed. Kelly knew she was in a hospital even before she opened her eyes because of the smell. No matter what kind of air filters you used, there was always a special quality to the smell. She sighed and opened her eyes. She couldn't believe she'd been so stupid to-
There wasn't any pain! Kelly's eyes flew open and she looked at her arms. No iv's! But... something was wrong.
"Sakura-chan! You're awake!" A petite nurse swept into the room, smiling. "That bump on the head worried us for a while, you know."
Sakura-chan? Eh??? Kelly realized that there was a stray lock of... long... pink hair falling over one of her arms. Pink? Long? Sakura-chan? No way this was what she thought it was.
The next day, Kelly rubbed her eyes tiredly. This was all a little much, she thought, looking around the classroom. She recognized some of the students- Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Chouji... Ino. Said blonde had just entered the classroom, taken in the fact that Kelly had sat down between Naruto and Sasuke, and started walking towards her angrily. Kelly sighed, glancing at the dark-haired boy next to her. Sure, he was really attractive. But in Naruto's defense, if he showered once in a while and didn't wear... orange... (Kelly shuddered inwardly) well, he wouldn't look too bad himself. His eyes were really pretty, after all, and his hair was a nice color. If only that horrible ramen smell stopped wafting over her direction.
Kelly looked down at her ninja manual and ignored Ino's tirade until she ran out of steam and sat down somewhere else with a huff. Kelly hadn't had much time to study after getting out of the hospital- they'd declared her perfectly healthy, she'd spent the night at her- no, Sakura's- house, and after a few hours of frantically studying Sakura's mom had reminded her of the ungodly hour class started and Kelly'd gone to bed. It had been a surprise to wake up in someone else's bed- someone who obviously really, really liked pink.
Now in class, she was wearing a black version of her red dress. She'd 'accidentally' ripped it that morning, and her mom had given her one of her black dresses she never wore. Underneath it was some light-weight chest armor, which had literally been gathering dust in the back of her- no, Sakura's- closet. Looking in the mirror, it was obvious why Sakura never wore it- it added inches to the waist, and took them from the chest. Not that Kelly cared, though. She was just happy to be healthy. To be- able - to wear chest armor. In her past life, in her past body, she would have literally suffocated.
Manual, Kelly reminded herself, flipping through it to Bunshin no Jutsu. Unless she was remembering incorrectly, knowing that skill was going to make the difference between graduating or not. Kelly wasn't sure exactly what day it was, and she wasn't even sure she cared about following the plotline. Still. Knowing what was going to happen ahead of time could be pretty useful. Alright. Ram, Snake, Tiger. Cool. She already knew those ones. Alright. Time to go to the bathroom and try it out.
"Ne, Naruto-kun," Kelly smiled sweetly. "Would you save my seat next to you and Sasuke please? I'd hate to have mean old Ino-pig come steal my seat."
Naruto grinned, and Kelly realized he was planning something. "Sure thing, Sakura-chan!"
Kelly gritted her teeth. She was gonna develop an inner-Kelly with this nonsense. "Both of you guys, Naruto, one on either side," She said, firmly, then plastering her smile back on. "Thanks!"
Ino glared at Kelly as she stood up. Kelly ignored her, and brushed her hair out of her face for the umpteenth time that day. Ug. Stupid hair. She'd never understood why, oh why, Sakura had kept it long when it'd only been a rumour that Sasuke liked it long, and Ino had it long too. Obviously it was only fifty-fifty that he liked it long (if he even liked girls at all; even the canon wasn't clear on that). Kelly smirked, realizing that if Sakura returned to her body she might have a few things to say about it, and leaned in towards Sasuke, invading his personal space slightly with no trace of Sakura's normal girlishness. "Sasuke," She said, leaving off the freaking 'kun', "Is it true you like longer hair better than shorter hair?" Kelly smirked.
Sasuke looked up at Kelly with a look up mild disgust. Kelly grinned maliciously and leaned in towards his ear. "Or maybe you're just gay," she whispered before standing up straight, sneaking a look at the disturbed look on his face before skipping happily to the bathroom.
First things first. Getting rid of this.... ridiculous mass of hair. Kelly took out a kunai from her hip pouch and leaned over the trashcan, cutting it until it was slightly shorter than the Real!Sakura had cut it in the chuunin exams. A few pink strands landed on the floor and she picked them up, amazed at the grace she had in this body. She was shorter, and much skinnier, than in her 'real' body, so moving was a little different... but Kelly couldn't remember the last time she'd been able to bend over without being in pain or worrying about falling over. She'd certainly put up with having pink hair and a 12-year-old body to have her health.
Next! Her first justu! Kelly slowly formed the seals. Ram! Snake! Tiger! Kelly marveled at hands that she could move without being in pain. She couldn't move as quickly as she'd like, but she'd make it. She practiced the seals again a few times over again, not even bothering to try putting chakra into it yet. She wasn't stalling. Just... being cautious.
After the seventh time, Kelly admitted that she was stalling. Ok. Chakra. She knew the basic theory, right? No way she forgot! She'd only seen the show like a million times! Only, she tended to zone out during the technical explanations. Well, hey, it's not like she expected to ever have to *use* it!
Kelly sighed and formed the one-handed meditation seal. Focusing on the white-hot fount of life she knew she now possessed, she breathed in, visualizing her chakra, then breathed out, visualizing it raising to a usable level. It... felt like it was being raised. Well, only one way to find out. "Bunshin no jutsu!" She said, performing the seals and visualizing a clone of herself. Poof!
A pale, desperate-looking clone appeared and flopped on the floor, looking very beat up. Kelly raised an eyebrow. Well, it was good that it worked. But... there was no way in hell she was going to embarrass herself with that in front of the class. She released the jutsu and tried again several times. She improved each time, but only slightly. She sighed at herself in the mirror and made to return to class, hoping today wasn't the day when Naruto defaced the Hokage heads and...
Oh, shit. It wasn't bunshin no jutsu that was the test that day. It was henge! And she hadn't practiced! Shit. She turned back to the mirror and realized she had absolutely no idea what the hand seals for henge were. Well. It wasn't like you... had to use seals, right? She formed the one-handed meditation seal again and closed her eyes, concentrating. "Henge!" she whispered, focusing the change at that moment.
Something did feel a little different. Kelly looked back at the mirror. Well. It was... passable? She did look somewhat like Iruka-sensei. Well. Time to head back to class.
Naruto had ended up saving her seat, and he grinned up at her when she returned. Judging by the clock it'd been only ten minutes, which made her five minutes late, but Iruka-sensei only nodded at her when she came in and sat down. Apparently you were expected to need to spend 'alone time' after getting a concussion. Or whatever they thought had happened to Real!Sakura that put her in the hospital. After a few minutes, Naruto noticed.
"SAKURA-CHAN!!!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!!!" Naruto yelled, jumping up from his seat. On the other side, Sasuke muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'utter fucking moron'.
Kelly smiled sweetly. "Someone put gum in it, Naruto-kun; I just couldn't get it out." Naruto looked at Kelly, then at Iruka-sensei who looked like he was going to have a hernia. Slowly he sat down and put his head in his hands, moaning softly. Kelly turned back to Iruka-sensei and continued taking notes. She was gonna have to study to have even a chance of keeping up with Real!Sakura's reputation.
Lunchtime came and Kelly headed outside with the rest of the class, settling herself on a bench and cracking open her bento. Kelly had, of course, taken her manual as well as a small notebook to note down things she needed to remember. She was glad, in a way, that she was naturally good at studying; it made the ridiculous amount of catch-up ahead of her somewhat easier. Alright, she thought, taking a bite of her onigiri, time to practice hand-signs. Wait.... Kelly frowned and looked at her onigiri. Ug. Pickled plum? Gross. Just... gross. She eyed it for a moment, debating whether keeping up her charade would make up for having to eat food she absolutely hated. Out of the corner of her eye Kelly saw Naruto walking toward her and frowned, chomping down, chewing, and forcing herself to swallow. From now on, she swore to herself, she was gonna pack her own darn bento. Naruto, seeing the growing frown on Kelly's face, walked right past her. Well, Kelly thought, at least that meant she'd have time to practice.
After finishing her lunch, Kelly headed back to the bathroom and practiced the henge in front of the mirror- with the proper hand seals, which made it considerably easier- until the bell sounded to be back in class. She smirked at herself, in Iruka-sensei's form. Either Real!Sakura's body had some kind of innate skill, or Kelly freaking rocked at learning ninjutsu. She preferred to think it was the latter. Dropping the henge, Kelly returned to class. She felt a little bit more tired after the practice than she had before the practice, but nowhere near her 'normal' level in her previous body. Back in class, Kelly sat in her previous seat next to Sasuke. Naruto wasn't back yet. The rest of the class filed in, and Iruka-sensei walked in, and Naruto still wasn't there. Oh dear, Kelly thought. Seems that Naruto is off pulling a prank.
Half an hour later, Iruka-sensei brought Naruto in. Wait, scratch that. Dragged him in, tied up. Iruka took a deep breath.
"Tomorrow is the Ninja Academy's Graduation Exam!" Iruka yelled.
Graduation exam? Tomorrow? Kelly frowned. She had much less time than she'd thought. Good thing I practiced, Kelly thought as Iruka announced the surprise quiz on henge. Kelly filed to the front and performed the henge on her turn. Iruka-sensei passed her without comment, and Kelly couldn't help but grin to herself. She did, somehow, manage not to brag to Sasuke, though it was sorely tempting. Rather impressive with only about twenty minutes of practice, huh?.
Sitting back down, Kelly grabbed the scroll Sasuke was looking at and started reading it, ignoring the dirty looks he gave her. It was a taijutsu manual. Hmm, Kelly thought. My taijutsu probably just sucks rocks, huh. "Hey, Sasuke, are you done with this? 'Cause my taijutsu is really bad... so if I could borrow it?"
"Hn," was Sasuke's response. Kelly grinned, having become somewhat proficient in Sasuke-speak over the years.
"Thanks!" She said. "I'll be sure and ask if I have any questions." Kelly smiled. She was managing to stay in-character better than she'd thought. To the outside eye, it probably looked like a clever ploy to spend time around Sasuke... when in reality, it was a clever ploy to learn enough taijutsu not to die on her first mission.
After school, Kelly returned home to drop off her bento box and tell her mom she was going to train, packed some food, and headed off. Somehow she found her way to an unused training ground, where she re-opened the manual she'd borrowed from Sasuke and started going through it. The first exercise in it was a punch. She sighed, positioned herself in front of the dummy, and began punching it, waiting for the inevitable pain to take over her entire body.
To her surprise, it didn't. She grinned. Sure, part of it was probably the new body, but she just knew part of it was actually having directions on how to punch. So Kelly punched, switching arms, until she couldn't really feel her arms anymore, took a small snack break, and started in on kicking. Having a healthy body was gonna be the best fucking thing ever.