Hello guys! I'm a (sort of) seasoned writer starting up on a new account. The old one was filled with embarrassing stories written during my pre-teen years that I'm a tad unwilling to delete due to sentimental values. This idea hit me while I was in the bath a few days ago. Hope you guys like it.

Reverse リバース

By Habanero-chan

Prologue

Tsunade hissed and threw herself to the ground as the kunai sailed towards her, sharp blades glistening in the pale moonlight. Old age had finally caught up with her, and she winced as the projectile scraped past her right cheek. Where the hell was Shizune? She had to get to Shizune. She had to stop this madness before that boy destroys it all.

"Tsunade-sama!"

Shizune! The blonde woman turned and ducked into the alley on her right, long cloak trailing behind her. Half of the wall had tumbled down, leaving most of the already narrow passage scattered with broken bricks and cracked concrete. Tsunade considered starting a fire to slow the enemy down. But this enemy was powerful. Really powerful. Some petty fire wouldn't be effective at all.

"Sensei! Tsunade-sama!" Shizune was calling again. Tsunade coughed. There was a bitter, metallic taste in her mouth and it was giving her a slight nausea. She didn't have much time left. She just hoped Shizune had already prepared the ritual.

"Sensei! Down here!"

Tsunade followed her student's voice as she turned into yet another alley. She was getting close. They were getting close. The Sannin glanced down at the little bundle in her arm, sleeping so peacefully, a smile on her little face. So small, so innocent, so vulnerable. This child didn't deserve to be caught up in all this. It was a terrible risk. The child could die and the world would die with her. But they were left with no choice. She was their only hope. Their last hope.

Just a little bit more. They would make it, and the child would be safe. The world would be safe.

There were three wooden doors just ahead, two of which seemed to have been recently blown apart by explosive tags. Shizune's anxious pale face was poking out from the one in the middle. "Sensei! There's no time! He's here! He's gonna kill us! This world is doomed! We are all fucking gonna die-"

Tsunade's headache immediately doubled in intensity. She was about to yell at the hysteric young woman when the infant in her arm screamed, a loud piercing sound, and Shizune promptly fell silent as the glass window beside her shattered to pieces.

"Wow. That was her? What else can she do?"

The older woman sighed and rubbed her temples. "I have no idea. Didn't have much of a choice in that tomb and I didn't really get to figure out the identity of that corpse. Is everything ready?"

Shizune shifted from one foot to the other. She had been very reluctant about the plan. Putting one innocent little life at risk to secure them a better future really wasn't worth it. The girl was just an infant, frail and fragile, not yet ready to be thrown into the cruelty of the world. But what else could they do? The enemies were coming. They could be - and would be - captured soon, and then they would all die and the world would be doomed.

Tsunade was getting rather impatient with her student's silence and sad, vacant eyes. She knew what the girl was thinking. Hell, she hated this plan as well. It was insane, it was impossible. But all else had failed. There was nothing else they could do. "Shizune! What the hell is wrong with you!"

The dark haired apprentice sighed and opened the door. Tsunade surveyed the dim room before her. Everything in the room seemed to be made of stone. Scrolls were spread out across the floor, runes and carved lines linking them together. A large circle was carved into the hard floor in the middle of the room, emitting a strange blue glow. Shizune had been very careful indeed. The Sannin sighed and stared down at the child she was holding. So young, so innocent. She closed her eyes before her resolution could waver and placed the small bundle on the cold floor, right in the middle of the carved circle.

The baby girl must have felt the absence of the warm body that had been holding her close. She started to wail, and Shizune hurriedly rushed to the door, ready to take down any enemy that had been alerted by the loud cry.

The blue glow in the stone intensified immediately as the Godaime began forming handsigns. Shizune turned so she didn't have to watch the terrible deed happening. She whimpered.

"Sensei, we can't do this!"

"Shut up, Shizune." Tsunade really didn't have the energy to perform the ritual and argue with the stubborn young woman at the same time. She could feel her strength slipping away. Hell, she was getting too old for this.

"You know the butterfly effect, sensei! This changes everything! We can't afford that!"

"We're doing this to change things, Shizune! Change things for the better! She's special and you know it as well as I do!"

The blue glow had began to spread while they argued. It would have been quite a pretty sight had the situation been different. Shizune growled in frustration.

"Yes, we're doing this to change things for the better! That's precisely why we shouldn't be doing this! Kami, I don't even make sense anymore, but how can you be so sure that this child will effectively stop that monster? How can you be so sure that this child won't turn into a monster herself?"

Tsunade struggled to come up with a reasonable argument. She was too tired to think. All the old wounds were beginning to hurt again. She hissed and steadied her stance on the ground.

"Speechless now, aren't we! I told you this was a bad idea, sensei! She's just a girl. What if the wrong people find her? What if she becomes a bigger trouble than what we are facing? What are we gonna do about that! She's probably going to change everything we've ever known! What-"

"Too late. The ritual is complete."

Bright blue light rose to form a dome around the circle. It crackled with energy, and emitted light so bright that both women were momentarily blinded. By the time their visions returned, the room had returned to darkness, all traces of a ritual gone except for the thin swirls of smoke rising from the burnt floor.

The infant was gone, too.

Shizune collapsed onto her knees and buried her face in her hands. "That's it, isn't it? We've done something terrible!"

There was a long silence. Tsunade was rarely silent. The dark-haired apprentice was beginning to worry.

"Shizune. Take care of things and try to survive, will you?"

Alarmed at her sensei's completely off-topic response, Shizune shot to her feet. The Sannin had collapsed onto her knees, beads of sweat forming on her pale forehead and dripping onto the cold floor. "What? Sensei? Sensei! Stay with me!"

But Tsunade had started to shake and heave. Shizune was getting pretty desperate. She had never seen her teacher so weak, not when Dan passed away, or when Jiraiya was killed. No, Tsunade had always been able to pull it together. What was happening?

Shizune fumbled around to find the right spots, but it was hard to perform a healing jutsu if her sensei refused to stay still. By the look of it, the older woman had very little time left. She wasn't buying it though. Tsunade cannot die.

Cannot. Die.

And then the heaving and shaking stopped. Shizune immediately planted her palms onto her sensei's chest. Her chakra began to glow green, and the young woman heaved a sigh of relief. Tsunade would be alright.

"No... Stop..."

Shizune frowned. "It's okay sensei. You'll be alright. We'll get out of here."

"Stop..." Tsunade raised a shaking hand to pry her student's hands off her body. She was surprisingly strong given the state she was in. "My time is up. That ritual required a living sacrifice. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, and I'm sorry for everything I didn't do. Live well, Shizune. I..."

The last of the great Sannin closed her eyes before she could finish her sentence. It didn't matter. Shizune probably knew already that she was deeply loved as a student and best friend. Tsunade smiled as she drifted away. She was finally at peace, away from the cruelty and unjust of the mortal world and reunited with her beloved Nawaki and Dan. She was happy, very happy.

Shizune, however, was not very happy. Tsunade was gone. Tsunade, who had been a sister, a mother, a teacher and a best friend all at the same time. Tsunade, who had cared for her since Dan's death; who had brought her up and trained her hard; who had given her shelter and love, and cared for her when no one else did.

Tsunade was gone, and so was a very big piece of her heart. For the first time in many years, Shizune felt alone and vulnerable, the way she had felt when Dan passed away.

Maybe this was karma. Maybe the little baby they sent into the past was going through the same emotions. Shizune grabbed her sensei's hands and let her tears pour. Her heart was breaking. Her world was crumbling.

It took her a moment to realise that the world outside was crumbling as well, quite literally. The buildings around were falling. Konoha was falling. The sky was falling. Shizune crouched down as an excruciating pain shot through her head. Must be a genjutsu, she thought. After all, that boy was good at it.

As the world went black, Shizune briefly wondered if why they had to make death so painful.

Her head hurt like fuck.

Everything was white. Too white. Was she in heaven? Was that a bird she heard? Heaven had birds? Shizune groaned and raised a hand to rub her eyes. Everything hurt. Her brain felt like it was going to explode.

"Shizune-chan."

That voice sounded very familiar. She whimpered. What had happened to her? They sent some kid 25 years into the past to fix things. And then Tsunade died. And then there was some sort of an earthquake. Or genjutsu. Or earthquake in the form of a genjutsu. Whatever.

She died, right?

"Shizune-chan! Wake up, Shizune. You're safe now. We're in the hospital."

That familar voice again. She couldn't really place it. It sounded like someone from the Hokage's office. Well, that just confirmed the fact that she'd gone to heaven. She had watched everyone from the office perish, everyone she ever cared about. Shizune sighed. She really didn't want to think about those dark times. She had gone to heaven and everything would be alright. She didn't know heaven had hospitals, though.

"Stay with me, Shizune-chan!" That voice was calling again. It sounded so familiar. The black haired girl fought hard to remember.

Oh right, Genma. Genma Shinarui. That was Genma. Shizune tried to pry her eyes open. A tall figure slowly came into focus, brown hair tucked neatly under his bandanna and a toothpick sticking from his mouth. Genma was still the way she remembered him to be, looking every bit as smart and proud as he had been all those years ago. When everything had been fine. When he was still alive.

"Genma..."

"Thank god! You gave us a real scare there. We thought you were dead, girl!"

Dead. She was dead, wasn't she? Why would Genma be so surprised? He had always been the one with the brains. He'd surely realise that they were all dead like a doornail.

"Is this... heaven?" She croaked.

Genma laughed. "Nope. You're safe and sound. The guards found ya passed out in some alley. Such a miracle! Where have you been these few years? We all thought you died during the Fourth War."

Fourth War? Genma wasn't making sense. The Fourth War was so long ago. They lost, hadn't they? They lost the war and everyone who had fought in it. Tsunade and her - they were the only ones left. But then she thought she had died. Maybe these past years had all been a really bad dream... "But everyone died during the Fourth War..."

"Ha-ha, that's funny. I'm very sure I came out of that battle in one piece. You need some sleep, Shizune-chan. The Rokudaime wants to meet you after you're well. We're all curious, you know. You popped out of nowhere."

Rokudaime. Shizune sat up, ignoring the stabbing pain in her head. She was suddenly very alarmed. If she was still alive, and this was Konoha, Tsunade would still be the Godaime. Since when had there been a Rokudaime?

"Genma, who is this Rokudaime?"

"A bit slow, aren't we! They probably don't have much intel wherever you went to. Our great friend Kakashi Hatake of course! Appointed two years ago. Good decision, I'd say. But he makes us do all the paperwork while he reads his shitass porn."

Shizune's migraine returned to haunt her head at full blast. What the fuck. Kakashi, Genma... Neither survived the Fourth War. Everything had been destroyed. Konoha had been destroyed. Yet these people, dead people, are walking around her talking and breathing as if nothing had happened.

And then her eyes fell on the calendar, and the realisation set in. Shizune screamed.

That girl must have somehow fulfilled her mission after all. The butterfly effect had begun.

Give me your opinions, guys!