Act Two

When Naruto wakes up, he is being held up against a very tall tree by a large snake. When Sakura wakes up, she is on her knees, in the mud, and she is watching a long-dead Orochimaru race towards her wide-eyed teammate. When Sasuke wakes up, he feels teeth bury into his shoulder, and burning hot pain coursing through his veins.

For shinobi of their ranking, instinct is swift, and it doesn't take long to retaliate. The hold upon Naruto is loosened by the appearance of about fifty Shadow Clones, and Naruto bursts out and runs along the length of the snake, finally reaching its head and placing about a dozen exploding tags on top of the scaly skin. With a jump and a handsign, the tags explode and Naruto escapes unharmed, if slightly sticky from the residual snake bits flying at his rapidly disappearing form.

Sakura quickly stands up and pulls out a kunai, running towards the Snake Sannin and aiming towards his exposed, extended neck. Her intention is not to stab, but to cut cleanly across, and then run her hands on the exposed flesh and cauterize it with an expert medical jutsu. When Naruto's exploding tags go off, the backlash slams into her, and although she is prepared to change her course, her kunai misses by a millimetre. Only the medical jutsu connects, leaving Orochimaru with a couple of fairly nasty third degree burns.

Sasuke is immobilised. Unlike Naruto, he cannot form a hundred Shadow Clones and overwhelm his opponent. And besides, this scene is one which often brings him nightmares. Orochimaru's long, dark hair is in his face, and Sasuke can smell the Sannin's scent and can feel his elongated teeth biting into his shoulder. Sasuke's mind draws a blank.

It is then that Sakura's cauterizing jutsu registers to Orochimaru, and reflexively the Sannin's neck shies away from the painful contact, the movement causing his fangs to jostle in Sasuke's muscle.

This fresh wave of pain, as well as the sight of that very familiar shade of pink that belongs to his wife's head, jostles Sasuke out of his shock. The Uchiha quickly gets angry at himself, then, and his red eyes mutate into something much more dangerous. With Mangekyou Sharingan active, Sasuke calls upon Amaterasu and aims for Orochimaru's ear. The black flames catch quickly and painfully and, almost panicked, Orochimaru hastily pulls away from the teenager's neck to quickly try and put out the dark fire.

Upon the realisation that they are not normal flames, Orochimaru quickly pulls out a kunai and cuts his own ear off, before the flames can catch onto his hair or the rest of him. For all the benefits of Amaterasu, the flame is slow-burning, and Orochimaru uses that disadvantage to separate himself from the fire. Seeing that the Sannin has escaped his technique, Sasuke allows the Mangekyou to fade out, and with it Amaterasu. The damage is already done, though, as blood is flowing down Sasuke's dirtied cheek and his left eye hurts.

Now, Orochimaru is assessing him curiously, cautiously, although he has already marked Sasuke. When Sakura and Naruto both appear behind their teammate, both placing reassuring hands on the Uchiha's shoulders, Orochimaru smirks and steps back into the shadow, without a word.

When the three can no longer sense the Sannin's chakra, they turn towards each other. It is then that the increasing pain finally catches up to Sasuke, when his adrenaline is running low, and he stumbles. Sakura and Naruto both catch him, and Sasuke gives a low whine of pain, sounding slightly like an injured dog. Sakura brushes a healing hand on his shoulder and the two punctures where Orochimaru bit him quickly heal. She cannot stop Orochimaru's venom but she will hasten the procedure as much as can without injuring Sasuke.

Without speaking, Naruto and Sakura carry Sasuke towards a large tree and hide in the elevated roots, until they can figure out what has happened to them.

x

"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth" was always one of Shikamaru's favourite sayings. So the conscious members of Team 7 did just that. Possibility by possibility, they debunked it in low, soft tones, and remained with the improbable.

Time travel, is, theoretically, possible. Some say that the Sage of Six Paths managed just that and returned to his starting point, having learnt from his mistakes, and avoided them a second time.

To Naruto and Sakura, this second chance means nothing. The war was long over. They hadn't lost. They were happy – Naruto was Hokage-in-training and was married to the girl who had always adored him, and Sakura was the Head Medic at the hospital. She was married to the boy she'd had the silliest crush on, crush which had evolved into a burning passion. Their lives were good. They did not need to travel back in time.

Regardless, they did. And, thus, the two decided to plan until Sasuke awoke.

x

"We'd need to find him first," is what Sasuke hears when he wakes up. Naruto sounds frustrated. "We can't do anything about him until he actively starts moving pieces on the board."

A hand smooths over Sasuke's forehead in a gentle manner. "We can tackle things as they come," Sakura says thoughtfully. "We already know how to defeat him. If we just take care along the way, we can save countless lives, as well."

"How do we explain our Jutsu?" Naruto demands impatiently. "If I try and explain Kurama to anyone in this time, they'll think the seal is leaking and tighten it, or, worse, they'll think I'm turning into the Kyuubi myself. Not to mention Sage Mode. Or the Rasengan. Or the Rasenshurkien – "

"Don't forget my Jutsu, Naruto," Sakura replies acidly. "Sakura Haruno of this time can hardly be expected to be a master medic nin, or to have monstrous power, or to have Tsunade-sama's infamous seal on top of her forehead!"

Sasuke's eyelids are crusty. He struggles to open them. Sakura notices, and gently rubs a wet piece of cloth to his face. "Good morning, Sasuke-kun," she says, helping him sit up. "How do you feel?"

Sasuke blinks and, unconsciously, a hand rises to rub at his shoulder. "Like I've been hit by a train," he deadpans, then winces as the curse mark sends a jolt of pain throughout his body. "I've forgotten how unstable this thing used to be," he remarks dryly.

Sakura and Naruto frown. "What do you mean?" Sakura asks, medic's curiosity lacing her tone.

"I feel like I should go kill something," Sasuke replies levelly. At his two teammates' tensing, he offers a dry chuckle. "Don't worry – I've had enough of these urges to learn not to give into them. Relax."

It's just then that Sasuke registers where he is and what had just happened. He looks at his two friends and, for a second, cannot for the life of him figure out why they look so familiar but so very odd. It is only when he spots his wife's long hair that he realises all is not right.

"Sakura, Dobe – why the fuck do you look twelve?"