—CHAPTER TWO—
Bit By Bit

The next day was close to a breeze. After all the running the other day, Sakura found herself having trouble even walking properly, much less going to the Academy and actively trying to learn. She had run almost everywhere in Konoha at full pelt and her body was absolutely not used to all the pushing, which was a huge pain in the ass – literally.

Getting up from her bed was the hardest thing of the day. It wasn't because she was lazy or was unmotivated, but because she had hoped that when she went to bed the other night, she'd wake up in the right place and in the right time. But to her disappointment, she didn't, and she opened her eyes to face a peach coloured ceiling and a tiny fan spinning to circulate the air.

She had lain there for a good few hours, her body in pain but her mind wondering adversely. Why was she still there? How was she still there? More than once she lifted her fingers and shifted them into the tiger sign and whispered 'Kai', hoping, again, that the illusion would break, even with her lack of chakra.

Of course it didn't, which didn't make sense. A Genjutsu didn't sap a person of their chakra, although she knew that there were a few that made the victim think they were losing it but really weren't. It would shake the chakra flow they used for when they'd try to dispel it. She thought, maybe, this was the case.

The only thing that did make Sakura eventually get up was the increasing realisation that she smelled, and that lying in bed wasn't exactly her forte if she knew she was trapped.

She moaned as she lifted herself off of her bed slowly and swung her legs around the side. She stared at herself in the mirror opposite her, cringing at the dark bags under eyes and the dead, limp look her hair had taken on.

Her hair was one thing she was unused to seeing. She had grown it out before since the war but no where this long, so it was strange running her fingers down the lengthy pink locks distractedly. It was thick and full, though dry, and she could see the ends of it beginning to curl in the humidity of the summer day – and it smelled a little like vomit.

Sakura found herself groaning in distaste and she pushed herself off her bed, grabbing the bottom of her shirt and pilling over her head, removing her PJ shorts thereafter so she was wearing only her underwear.

So this is what she looked like.

"This is weird," she whispered. She widened her eyes a fraction and looked around her room, half expecting to see some sort of sign that showed that the Genjutsu user was listening in. Even though she saw nothing, she chose not to speak again, and in silence she resumed the weird inspecting of her twelve year old body, dull green eyes roaming up and down.

Her skin was slightly paler than what she was used to, her hips bones slightly more pronounced because she had been dieting – if her memory served her correctly, and speaking of which, she was starving – and her breasts were small to match with her thin shoulders.

To her she looked a little gangly, and she already sorely missed her old body; one that was filled out and had the right amount of muscle to match her strength and weight. But this? This was close to ridiculous. It was almost painful to look at, but Sakura found she had trouble looking away from the pale female staring back at her.

Now she was more curious about what the Genjutsu user hoped to find by putting her back into this body and taking away all her chakra. Truly, if the Genjutsu was taking all of her chakra, it would only continue until the victim realised it was occurring, and therefore that part of that the illusion should break. But it wasn't. And it hadn't. But she hoped to God it would.

The bleak reminder that she smelled brought her out of her stupor and she quickly put back on her PJ's and tiptoed to the bathroom a little down from her room at the end of the corridor. She was on full alert but didn't show it in her body as she slipped into the room and locked it. It was as she was taking off her shirt again did she stop and pause, tilting her head to the side when she noticed something.

Sakura stared intently at her tooth brush sitting in the mug next to the basin, and in seconds held it in her hand, twirling it in front of the mirror.

This is too detailed, she noted, frowning at the object. The Genjutsu user would have no way of knowing such insignificant details to get it right, because Sakura knew that her tooth brush looked exactly the same as the one she used to use when she was twelve. It was one of those small things you just remembered for no reason.

It was green and white, and had the row of circle patterns on both sides – that was why she liked it. It was identical.

She put it back and opened the drawers below the sink, scouring through them. She recalled finding a tiny bottle of her mother's dark blue nail polish under the sink when she decided to clean up the bathroom at fourteen. She used it from time to time after that, so if it was there…

Only Sakura would have known about that.

And it was there; sitting behind an old bottle of something (the label was worn and unreadable) and looked every bit as it had six years ago.

Sakura stared at it for a good minute before she robotically closed the door and decided to have her shower. She was distracted the entire time.

What were the chances that the Genjutsu was filling in stuff like that with her own memories? The illusion had to be advanced to do that on top of everything else. Everything was a little too perfect. The shampoo and conditioner had the same fruity smell (which she chose because she thought that if she walked passed Sasuke he'd get one whiff of it and hook, line and sinker) and there was that crack in the tiled wall which was engraved into her memory (she remembered it because she had gotten annoyed by it).

She stepped out of the steamy shower minutes later, under the belief that the Genjutsu was just so advanced that it was using what she remembered to fill in the gaps. Sooner or later, though, she expected there to be a slip up. There had to be.

Every Genjutsu had some sort of mistake, which was almost always noticed by the victim if it didn't fit in with the base or topic of the illusion.

It was only a matter of time.

Only a matter of time.

Sakura was a patient woman. With all the shit she had to put up with (the hospital, training, finding Sasuke, the war) she had to have some it. Compared to Naruto, she was very patient. He'd run into the thick of things without thinking or waiting or studying; Sakura did, but she wasn't, by all means, the most patient person on earth.

And when she was motivated and/or determined, she had the ability to wait the longest hours; which she knew she had to do if she ever wanted to escape this damn illusion.

The next few days were getting harder and harder for Sakura. Every day a worried Nanako - Mother - would come in to her room in the morning and ask if she was going to school, but Sakura, who still wanted to believe she was in a Genjutsu, refused to go and insisted that if she had to practice she could do it just as well at home.

On one of the days when she refused to go, Sakura did herself a favour and decided to test where her abilities were at. She had started with kunai and shuriken throwing at first, planting her feet firmly on the ground to keep balanced and then tossing the practice weapons she had brought only from home. To her annoyance, none of them hit dead centre; in fact, everything was wrong.

Sakura was used to throwing the small blades with a longer arm and a higher view that it started to hurt her arm when she forced herself to stretch her muscles to get the right length. She stopped quickly, realising in frustration that she had to adjust the movement to match her current body.

She was far from perfect. With gradual adjusting she was getting better and actually managing to nab a spot on the dart board, but she had to think, initially, to do it properly, otherwise the kunai would hit the target and clutter on the ground.

Apart from kunai and shuriken throwing, Sakura had also started improving her chakra control by meditating on her bed. At first she was worried that by doing such things might alert the Genjutsu user, before she realised that Academy students were required to practice such things anyway, so it wasn't unusual at all.

Another day passed and Sakura told her mother that she wasn't going to school again, but the more she said this, the more Nanako was getting frustrated that she was just skipping school now, and was growing more fervent in her approach about the topic.

All her anger was doing was confirming Sakura's thoughts that it was an illusion, but on the fifth day, she had a subtle change of heart when she saw her mother crying in her father's arms in their bedroom. Through the door Sakura heard her weak sobs and exclamations of worry for their daughter, how she seemed to be losing interest in being a kunoichi by not going to school, and how it was growing harder to convince Iruka that she was alright and to just outright talk to her.

Sakura was frustrated that night. She was unable to complete her meditation and instead spent the time lying on her bed, staring up at the hypnotic spinning fan. Whoever cast the Genjutsu was cruel. She always did have a weak spot for tears, and always she felt herself compelled to do something to make them stop.

Even if it hurt her.

She groaned and flipped onto her stomach. What would I be sacrificing by going to the Academy? Everyone's abilities for one. For two… walking into their hands. Unless… I'm so confused. I stayed at home and hoped that they would believe I knew nothing, but Mum… was just too realistic.

Too realistic that Sakura found herself walking downstairs the next morning prepared for school, wearing the same red dress she remembered she always wore and her hair in a low ponytail, off her shoulders. Nanako had almost dropped her bowl of rice on the floor in surprise and stared at Sakura for a second before setting aside the food and hugging her.

The rosette felt lost in the embrace.

It was warm and inviting and was so much like her mother's hugs (her vanilla scent and all) that Sakura found herself responding slightly to the embrace, hooking her chin over her mother's shoulder. She had closed her eyes for a second before she realised what she was doing and tensed her body. Nanako got the hint and pulled back, but she didn't seem to care as there was a huge smile on her face that Sakura wondered if she was related to Naruto somehow.

"Morning, my girl," she whispered, her thin laughter lines webbing from the corner of her eyes.

"Morning," Sakura mumbled. Her stomach growled and she coughed awkwardly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Nanako laughed heartily and like a giddy school girl ran back into the kitchen and procured breakfast. Sakura ate slowly, watching her mother closely sitting opposite her.

Then it was time for the Academy.

Belatedly, Sakura realised, as she was already well on her way to the building, she would be seeing everyone again but as twelve years old. The people she hated, the people she loved, the people who died and the people who lived. They were all going to be in that small room, hardly aware of the direction their life would go years – even months – later.

This was the most daunting thought, and she had to go through it again if she didn't find a way out soon.

It was picture perfect.

The front door was the same old brown, slightly chipped and worn but still just fine. She remembered that when the Academy was rebuilt in her time, everything was new and shiny, but this was exactly how she remembered it. She spent a good five minutes standing outside the tall building, just reminiscing over things she never experienced in there – and everything she'd experience again.

The swing was still there, the rope fraying and stretched, going mouldy in some areas where the rain had soaked it. The wooden plank swayed slightly in the passing wind, rustling the trees and their over-reaching shadows, creating an eerie creaking sound that sent a chill up Sakura's spine.

In just a few weeks, she knew she'd be standing out there again, celebrating the fact that she had become a genin. In a few weeks she'd see Naruto sitti—No! she screamed, tearing her sight from the aging swing and sprinting into the Academy.

Students were flushing in and out of their designated rooms, chatting wildly to their friends as she passed by them in. She found her classroom further down the hall, the door still open. She held in a breath without knowing as she walked into the room, and memories quickly flooded her as her eyes took in all her friends, but much younger. Hinata was sitting near the back on the left, across the escalating walk way, her cheeks a slight chubbier or fuller than Sakura was used to. She was definitely baby-faced, but it attributed to her charm.

Kiba, the scowling boy arguing with Kousuke Minamo, looked as though he hadn't changed. His grey hoodie was drawn over his head, with a miniature sized Akamaru perched on top, his paws dangling over Kiba's eyes. Sakura was startled for a moment when she spied the canine, as she was completely used to seeing the giant one who would let her ride on his back. At the same time, a black feeling coated her insides and she looked away from the Inuzuka, just as the memories of his death shot through her mind.

Shino was sitting next to Shikamaru at the back right corner, the latter staring out the window to see the fluffy clouds in the sky. They hadn't changed much, and neither had Chouji sitting in front of them, stuffing his face with his favourite flavoured chips in his hands.

Memories of their future lives flittered through her mind like butterflies. Some turned black and white, signalling death, and others remained coloured, meaning life. It churned her stomach, making it more difficult to walk up to a spare seat somewhere in the middle.

Sakura's eyes roamed the classroom as she sat down, taking in the sights of all the other students who never made it to genin at the same time they did. She didn't know what became of most of them, but she recognised a few as people she had worked with and fought with in the war.

And then he walked in.

Sasuke Uchiha.

The rosette instantly looked away as the prodigy entered and strolled to his seat, the girls of the class already swarming behind him like a stream of smoke. From the brief glimpse she has seen of him, he looked so… young!

Sakura rolled her eyes.

They all looked very young, but he was most noticeable. Maybe it was because her feelings for him had veered towards the negative side of the scale a little more, or because she had seen his insane and bloodthirsty face one too many times, but whatever the reason, he looked so different; and clueless. He had no idea what was going to happen in his future. She knew what he was hoping, but the rest he had no clue.

Would the person who cast this Genjutsu expect me to talk to him? She frowned. I have no intention of doing that; or speaking to any of them. I have to be prepared for anything and anyone.

"Good morning, Sakura!" a strong voice bellowed. All heads in the room swivelled to see Naruto Uzumaki stepping into the classroom and waving jovially at the rosette. He was scratching the back of his head and chuckling nervously, like he always had done when interacting with her at this age.

It was weird seeing him again. The last time she had seen such a huge smile on his face like that was before the war; before the Kage's decided to send him away to be train by Bee. It was when she was wishing him good ni—Not again, she said, stopping herself. The memory was still too painful… what he did… what happened.

She just stared at him as he awkwardly lowered his hand. At the same time Ino came through the door and whacked him over the head, creating a few chuckles about the room. Sakura could hear her yelling from all the way at the back.

"Naruto! First you crash into me on the way here, then you stand in my way!" Ino shouted in his cringing face. Sakura felt a nick of guilt at seeing this. "Move it!" She hip-nudged him out of the way and sauntered her way up the steps, but not before glancing Sasuke's direction.

Ino… she looked exactly the same, and acted the same – as a twelve year old, of course. The Ino she knew well had become sort of like a sister, but there was still that underlying rivalry that would never go away; it was there to stay. She was a different kunoichi after the war. She still had a vibrant personality that some would consider bossy, but she always meant good. What changed was that her specialty started to excel in seduction. She used her ability to capture the minds of the men she had to be prepared to bed, and then use them to find out any information her mission required.

Despite the previous all-country-alliance, she could be found in the bingo books.

Sakura stared too long at the blonde, and was too late to look away when she glanced in her direction.

"Yo, Sakura! What are you doing over there?" the blonde asked, hand on her hip. "Sasuke's over here, you know."

She shrugged. Ino narrowed her eyes, looking a mite disappointed that she couldn't say anything back to silence. She opened her mouth but nothing came to mind, so she snapped it shut, her teeth clunking, and sat in her seat the row over from the Uchiha, glaring at Sakura the entire time.

Iruka walked in simultaneously, and quickly noticed the rosette, sitting amongst a group of students she hadn't normally conversed with. He paused for a second and settled his papers down on his desk before warmly greeting Sakura, with, "Welcome back, Sakura."

She nodded in acknowledgement, saying, "Good morning, Iruka-sensei," before crossing her arms over the other and resting them on the table, eyes whirring about the classroom.

During the entire lesson, her body was buzzing.