Sakura was breathing in an irregular pattern. Her eyelids were heavy as the effects of the foreign poison invaded her bloodstream sooner than she had anticipated.
She inwardly cursed herself for being so reckless while slowly bringing her head back, softly resting it on a tree.
Sakura hadn't realised just how long she was standing there before an extremely battered Choji arrived on scene with Shikamaru supporting him, holding him by the waist with the opposite arm clinging around his shoulder.
"Shikamaru...Where's Ino?" Sakura's weak voice cracked. Shikamaru focused his attention onto Sakura.
He could instantly tell that she was in no fit condition to be on the battlefield...however, the guilt of abandoning his team mate was eating at him.
"She's fighting a rogue nin, two hundred feet to the west." He answered plainly, struggling to keep Choji upright.
Sakura winced at the pain of the poison in her system as she started to walk west.
It took a while but her walking gradually turned into running. Her arms and legs felt like they were on fire. Her brain pulsed painfully against her skull with every step she took, however Sakura was determined to get to Ino to help.
Being careful to avoid any major damage as weapons flew by her face and body, she reached Ino...
...she was too late.
Before Sakura could even inhale her next breath, an unfamiliar pink haired shinobi decapitated Ino right in front of her.
Ino's head fell to the ground with a loud 'thump' before it rolled ever so slightly to the side, exposing her pale and lifeless face to Sakura.
Ino's body fell harshly on the ground a few moments later, blood shooting out of her neck and onto the damp ground beneath her, creating a puddle of blood within seconds.
Sakura had to fight every urge to recklessly engage in battle, Sakura had rule she stuck by…Which included a basic analysis of her enemy.
"Who the hell are you, you bastard?!" Sakura grunted.
The man standing in front of Ino's body wore a long, white lab coat over a basic set of green shinobi gear. His face didn't show any sign of emotion as he spoke.
"It's sad that you don't remember me." His voice travelled with the wind and it entered Sakura's body.
The sound of his voice didn't sit well with her. Sakura's body shivered slightly, causing her to almost lose her balance.
"I've never seen your face in my whole life." Sakura responded, trying to plan ahead.
'If he's interested in continuing a dialogue with me. I could catch him off guard and kill him in one hit…I only have enough chakra for one hit…' Sakura thought to herself as she leads her body with her left side, closing in on her enemy very slowly…
"Of course you haven't...you were too young back then. I'm your older Brother." He claimed as he raised his arms frantically.
Sakura eyed him cautiously while taking a few more steps in his direction.
"I don't have a brother," She started to reply. "Who are you really?" Sakura spoke slowly, a numbing sensation hitting her body as her chest vibrated under her deep tone.
"I am who I say I am...I'm here to give us a better start. Even a bat could tell that you're dying, why don't you hear me out before you get all flustered?" The strange man questioned.
Sakura stopped walking towards him before un-expectantly leaning against a nearby tree for support as an extraordinary amount of pain shot through her body.
"You just killed my friend." She stated obviously through gritted teeth, darkness engulfing her presence.
"Hear me out," the man repeated before pacing around Ino's lifeless body. "Our parents messed up...big time. Seeing you not recognise me breaks my heart, it really does…" The man spoke in an almost sarcastic manner. "But, it also proves that you weren't told the truth. Here's my deal." He wasted no time in getting to the catch. "We both originate from the Haruno clan...you don't know it yet but we've got the ability to manipulate time." He continued, Sakura raised her head and tried to ignore the throbbing pain in her brain. "I want to travel back in time. With you."
"Travel back in...you're talking out of your ass." Sakura tried to rationalise what she was hearing. When she couldn't come to a reasonable thought she started to walk towards the strange man again, this time keeping her guards up.
Sakura wasn't sure whether the poison was taking over her logical mindset or if the man in front of her was really her brother that she could trust.
"It's true, I studied this my whole life...the moment our parents abandoned me in the disposal unit, I wanted to take my revenge...the only thing I need is your chakra, Sakura." The man continued while walking towards Sakura somewhat menacingly.
Sakura grew weaker by the second...She was becoming hopeless as another pulse of pain shot through her body.
"Look here, Asshole..." She panted through pained breaths. "Even if I did believe you, I wouldn't help you. You don't look anything like my parents."
The man's smirk tugged at the side of his mouth.
"Wouldn't be a Haruno if you weren't thorough..." the man started as he paced about again. "My deal is so simple that even a goldfish could carry it out. You must look for me. Your top priority is finding me. Deal?"
Sakura started coughing harshly. It took her a few moments to regain composure.
"What do you mean by that?" She questioned gingerly. Before Sakura could reach the man, He started briskly walking towards her in an arrogant demeanour.
"Well-" He chuckled as he started his sentence, although this was the perfect time for Sakura to strike.
She raised her arm and pulled it back before infusing what chakra she had left into her right fist. Springing it forwards, her punch hit the enemy at such a speed he went flying back into one of the trees, the impact of his body snapping the tree in two.
Sakura collapsed on the ground. She tried to get up but her efforts were futile. She was sure that the punch would have hit his head at such a force that his brain would be damaged from the speed at which it would have hit his skull at.
"That wasn't nice..." the man stood up from the attack and started to power walk over to Sakura, kicking Ino's head along the way. "I'm not quite sure the forbidden jutsu will work without a willing test rat…but your possible death will mean nothing to me." He muttered on while kneeling to Sakura's height.
"Rot in hell." Sakura struggled to say, causing the strange man to laugh.
"Ah, C'mon. Don't be so sour." He started while taking out a deep blue scroll. "Hope you don't mind but I'm going to do a spot of reading." He continued. Sakura tried to infuse chakra that wasn't there, resulting in her body shutting down. She lied quietly on her back, trying to focus on breathing.
The man took out, what looked like, black paint and mimicked the symbol that was seen in the scroll on Sakura's stomach. Sakura flinched as he traced the lines on her.
She let out a gurgle as blood started to fill her lungs.
"W-What are you doing?" She questioned, attempting to strike a hit at the man, her efforts allowed her to rest her hand through his arm instead.
"I'm sending you back in time. Or not. This jutsu was created by and intended for the sole use of the Uchiha Clan." He bored. "I stole it and I don't want to risk dying, so what better way to help my own sister out by sending her back in time before she dies by poison." He sarcastically chortled before removing a small necklace shaped into a small up-side-down heart.
The string was black, but the heart was made of a brilliant blue glass. Something seemed to stir inside the heart. Sakura concluded that it looked like smoke.
"A souvenir," He stated before placing it around her head. "If this forbidden scroll works like it should do, this will travel back with you…" He stated more to himself as he pushed his right hand onto Sakura's stomach and his left hand on the scroll.
Sakura started to lose consciousness, but not before she noticed a new chakra signature. It was a powerful one, causing Sakura's curiosity to keep her awake to see who it could be. Her hopes were high, thinking that it could be friendly, but she frowned to find out it was Itachi…who looked worse for wear. Sakura noticed that his eyes looked abnormal.
Itachi wasted no time in pulling out a katana and speeding towards the strange man in front of Sakura.
"Don't forget to find me, or else there will be trouble." He informed her, ignoring the obvious sound of Itachi getting closer. The man forced both of his hands down, causing Sakura to painfully become super alert of her surroundings while grunting in pain.
Itachi had struck his weapon. His sword went right through the man's heart and, to Sakura's surprise, entered her throat.
The scenery around her grew dark. Sakura knew that this was it. She'd be joining Ino very soon. The very moment that thought crossed her mind, a dangerous red chakra dispersed itself from the centre of the scroll before pulsing a few times.
Sakura felt a strange sensation as she involuntarily closed her eyes. She suddenly felt dizzy, but not for long as she felt the sensation of falling.
She greedily gasped in the air around her as her body hit the ground with a soft 'thud'. She hesitantly opened her eyes to be pleasantly surprised with the view.
She was in the training grounds. Her body didn't feel quite right but she felt a wave of relief hit her as she took in the moment to breathe without pain, her chakra levels were ridiculously high.
She looked around the field to see an ANBU squad in training. Not quite understanding what just happened, Sakura stood up and started to trip over herself trying to get to the squad. One of the members looked like Kakashi, and that's who Sakura wanted to talk to the most.
"Watch out!" a concerned male voice came from a man behind a weasel mask. Sakura looked at her surroundings and quickly realised that a ball of lightening was heading in her direction.
Reflexes taking over Sakura's body, she instinctively reared her arm before infusing it with chakra and punched the ground. The attack seemed to strike quicker than Sakura was used to but the impact was the same as usual.
The ground cracked beneath her feet, chunks of dirt flew up, protecting Sakura from the lighting attack.
After her attack settled, the three ANBU members stood in shock. Sakura didn't understand why until she suddenly realised how tall these people were in comparison to her.
Sakura looked down and was met with her 9-year-old self. She took a steady breath in to calm herself down before noticing a long necklace on herself. It felt comforting even though she didn't know where it came from.
"Um…Hi?" Sakura spoke, being annoyed that a pathetic childlike voice came out of her mouth rather than the one she grew fond of.
"You're from our village…" Kakashi stated before crouching down to Sakura's height. "Where are your parents?" He asked in a patronising tone.
Sakura placed her hands on her hips to adopt an authoritive stature, however it resulted in her looking like a kid with an attitude.
"I can handle myself." She spoke carefully, eying the other ANBU. Her eyes locked onto the guy who was wearing a weasel mask. She rummaged through her mind for the information she read while sneaking through Tsunade's archives to recognise who he was, although she couldn't quite find what she was looking for.
"What's going on here? I felt the ground shake." The Hokage spoke as he ran onto the training ground.
"That would be the doings of this girl." A female spoke, Sakura didn't really focus on what was being said as she saw the Hokage in front of her. Her eyes covered in water, she was finally convinced that she was in the past as the once dead Hokage approached her.
"And who might you be?"
A/N: Thank you for reading ^_^ please leave feedback so I can make you reading experience more enjoyable!