"What happened, what went wrong?! Why the hell is this happening?!" Sasuke shouted, angry with red eyes swirling in barely controlled rage. The masked figure stopped and turned sharply to face the youngest living Uchiha alive. "Everything?! Don't you understand?!" His voice sharp, agitated at the onslaught of questions that the masked man figured, should be obvious. "Madara wanted this from the start! He plotted the Uchiha clan's downfall from the start! And I-!" A brief pause from the shout and the mans thrown up arms in frustration, lowered as well as his voice. "And I helped carry out the massacre."

A sharp cry and onyx eyes snapped open, his body drenched in sweat before tossing the ruffled covers off him. Sasuke stared listlessly at his smaller legs, before lifting a hand to his line of sight and flexed the chubby fingers experimentally. There was only the soft tapping of footsteps as a warning before the door to his left slipped open.

"Sasu-chan, are you alright?"

Sasuke flinched at the long lost nickname, slack eyes and dulling senses growing wide and sharp with recognition. He looked over to his smiling mother who leaned against the shoji door frame carefully, but he could see what his younger self would have missed. The tense shoulders and the swirl of red right below her sea of onyx eyes, she had come prepared with a kunai stealthy hidden in the folds of her apron. A frown etched his features and when no response came from her child, Mikoto strode forward and sat on his bed placing loving hands on his shoulders and ignoring the fact his small body tensed up. "Did you have a nightmare?" She cooed, lifting her son up with only the ease of a kunoichi could. Gently placing him in her lap as she held him close and stroked his hair.

If this was a genjutsu it was a very clever one, he thought glancing around the room with anger stirring in his gut. They were either very stupid or just plain suicidal to pull a stunt like this. But when the heavy footsteps padded in front of his door, he cast a glance over to his fathers frowning and disappointed face. A son like him shouldn't have nightmares, not at his age. Sasuke could practically feel his fathers disapproval emitting like angry waves, but unlike his younger self, he ignored it for the moment and relished in his mothers embrace. A memory long forgotten, even if it was a genjutsu, he would relish in it just a bit longer before returning to the chaotic realism that awaited for him just outside the thinly veiled illusion.

Setting her son down and standing up herself, she shot an annoyed glance at her husband who quickly walked off before kneeling down and smiling to her most precious son. "Now wash up and get ready for breakfast Sasu-chan, it will be ready in a little bit." With that she patted his head and stood up quickly before trotting out of his bedroom and sliding the shoji door shut with a small snap. Sasuke waited only a hairs breath before his eyes narrowed and hands quickly formed the ever familiar hand seal and he willed his sharingan to activate.

When three solid seconds ticked by and frustration welling deeper, Sasuke let out an annoyed growl and slammed his eyes shut. Where was the damn kunoichi? Why wasn't she pulling him out of this, was she enjoying his suffering in the background? He snarled at the thought and scrunched his face up in concentration, but when the seconds turned to minutes and not even the familiar sting of his sharingan threatened to rise, a surge of panic traveled through him like lightning. Abandoning his task, he bounded over to the mirror and gazed into it. Staring back at him was the chubby 4 year old face, rounded features and wide onyx eyes that scrunched up as he forced chakra to the back of his eyes, and within a few seconds that the sharingan should have activated, pain exploded from behind his eyelids that sent him reeling. With a soft gasp and hands flinging to his eyes, Sasuke mashed his teeth together and dropped the chakra from his eyes and slowly the pain ebbed away. Whatever this was he thought, dropping his hands from his eyes, it was an elaborate genjutsu maybe even with the purpose of keeping his abilities locked. He scowled but his reflection only showed a cute frown on his face and that only furthered to foul his mood. Sasuke could only think of one person with a personal vendetta to create an illusion this elaborate, funny that she was talented in that particular field, too.

Sakura sat very stiff at the table, hand clenching the silver spoon with lips pursed in thought. She ignored the flickering of her parents eyes as they tossed concerned glances her way in favor of staring down at her cereal bowl. The burning of the blood seal on her arm only seemed to intensify as time went on and though her mother had given her an odd look at wearing long sleeves in mid-summer, Sakura would have to make due with the heat until she figured out a better way to hide the seal ticking away at her arm.

"Ne, Sakura? Would you like to accompany okaa-san ot the market today?"

Sakura perked her head up with false enthusiasm and smiled at her concerned mother. Not really.

"Okay, Okaa-san!"

Her mother beamed right back, glad to see the pick up in her daughters sudden ominous mood and Sakura felt a stab of guilt in her gut.

"Good girl, why don't you go wash up and we'll head out?"

Nodding curtly, Sakura jumped from her chair and wandered back up the stairs to her room to get ready for the day. Grimacing as she slid open her wardrobe to be greeted by bright red fabrics, while red was certainly still Sakura's favorite color it wasn't until around her teenage years that she discovered how badly her pink hair clashed with it. She shifted through the fabrics and scowled to herself, it seemed she was going to have to plead her mother to make another shopping trip. While wearing long sleeves wasn't all that bad, with mid-summer heat she didn't really want to be sweating all the time and not to mention she wanted to avoid any questions from her parents. Maybe while she was there, she could also pick out some colors that didn't clash so badly with her hair. She just hoped the sudden wardrobe change wouldn't spark any suspicion either. With a resigned sigh after finding nothing better to wear for a day out, she shut her closet door and made her way to the hallway closet to wash up and get ready.

Sasuke grunted as he struggled to keep up with his mothers brisk walk, it wouldn't have been so bad if he was just following but her hand was tightly clasped around his. In her haste to get to the market before the afternoon crowd, he could practically feel his shoulder getting ready to dislocate. His mother was a kunoichi through and through and sometimes he wondered if she forgot that when she tugged him along.

Breakfast had been about as awkward as it could have been, as a child he had never been as aware of his surroundings and after his outburst in the morning his father kept sending him disapproving looks. It honestly wasn't even that which worried him, it was the tense atmosphere that was created by Itachi and his father. It was so thick he could have tasted it on his tongue had he the stomach to open his mouth and eat. How he never noticed any of it when he was a child was a bit beyond him, but who knows it may have never been like that in the first place.

Sasuke heaved a sigh of relief when his mother let go of his hand and began plucking fruit from one of the stands while chatting happily with its owner. Scrunching his hands and shoving them into his pockets Sasuke took a quick glance around the market, there were more and more people trickling in and a few people were still setting up there own stalls. The sun was already beating down heavily and a small part of Sasuke prayed they wouldn't be here too long, but his mother was a sociable person so he highly doubted it.

After a few minutes of haggling his mother quickly shuffled to the next stand with a reluctant Sasuke in tow, and as she dropped his small hand and went about plucking things from the stand and striking up another conversation, Sasuke continued to observe the area around him. The market seemed in full swing now, and from what he recalled before he actually left the village, this was a lot smaller then what it would be. A few buildings were missing and there were unfamiliar faces as well.

The barking laughter of a woman caught his ears several stands away, a petite thing with striking white hair was chatting rather loudly with a stand owner who in turned looked rather sheepish at her sheer volume. Sasuke very nearly sneered when he caught the sight of pink just peeking out from beside her. Back reeling into the middle of the street, Sasuke nearly collided with another market occupant but paid no mind as his eyes narrowed in on a small familiar pink haired girl. Venomous thoughts warped his tongue and the hands in his pockets clenched tightly into fists as he stalked his way over.

Sakura nearly blanched at the sheer volume of her mothers voice, she had forgotten over the years that her mother could be so loud. It brought back memories of her teenage years and having to sheepishly smile at the surprised vendors, those who knew her mother simply waved it off, but every new person was always taken aback. Rubbing at her forehead she took hasty steps away and began to retreat in slight embarrassment.

The clock on her arm burned as if someone had poured acid on her skin and she discreetly checked a few times if her skin had simply burned off or if she was bleeding at all. The only real sign of the pain was the area around the ticking clock had turned an irritated red and Sakura couldn't help the wince she made when she pulled her sleeve back down. The mark burned and the fabric rubbing against her irritated skin only made it that much more painful, if the main was going to put this marking on her he could have done his research a bit better. There were plenty of blood seals similar that didn't cause such pain, and when the clock suddenly struck the twelve she very nearly seized when a hand latched onto her shoulder with a steel grip.

Sasuke could feel Sakura's entire body tense up as his hand landed on her shoulder and there was a sickening sense of satisfaction that screamed good, she should. Tightening his grip he whirled the pink haired girl to face him and he watched as her green eyes widened for a moment and for a second he nearly panicked. If this was her doing then why would she insert herself into her own illusion? What if this Sakura here was just an illusion too? But the second her eyes darkened and her face nearly curled back in a sneer as she grabbed his hand and ripped it from her shoulder he nearly sagged in relief.

"What do you want?" Sakura sneered, crossing her arms over her chest with a mental note that the burning in her arm had abruptly stopped. Sasuke could feel his own glower on his face and if he had a kunai he would have gutted her now.

"Drop this stupid genjutsu, it isn't funny." Sasuke said, fists nearly shaking and oh! If only he had his sharingan.

Sakura barked a laugh that wasn't nearly as loud as her mother and a small thought tucked away that she hoped it never would reach that volume, before turning her attention back on the agitated Sasuke.

"You think I did this? Are you mental?" Sakura spat back, her entire posture screaming like a tightly wound snake ready to strike.

"Now's not the time, Sakura." Sasuke said, almost like he was scolding a child and he watched with a sort of amusement as Sakura very nearly bristled at the tone. "If I recall we were in a battle and you went and you pulled this!" He threw his arms up and motioned around them and watched Sakura glance around and settle her eyes back on him.

"We were in a battle and if I recall your little Uchiha relative did this, not me!" Sakura said, pushing the boy in front of her back a few steps and huffing in her own frustration. "I may hate your guts but I'm not about to compromise my own safety just to get revenge, unlike some of us." She said, turning her head away from him and Sasuke nearly saw red.

"Then fix it! Get us out of here!"

"You don't think I tried?!" Sakura said leaning closer to him with the intent to harm lingering beneath the jade coloring in her eyes. "Whatever he did to us, it sure as hell isn't a genjutsu and the blood seal doesn't add up either." She absently rubbed at her arm and glanced toward her mother who was still chatting with the vendor just a few stalls away. They were tucked in the front of an alley way and out of the now busy market, and as she glanced back at Sasuke she could see confusion on his face.

"What? Don't know about blood seals?"

Sasuke shook from his stupor and glowered at her, "I don't have a blood seal." Sakura herself looked stupefied for a moment before lifting up the sleeve on her arm and showing Sasuke the angry irritated skin that hosted a large blood seal that remained unmoving. "You don't have one?" She questioned, curiously.

Sasuke shook his head, lifting up his own arms and revealing the same area barren of any seal and frowned at Sakura's calculating look.

"And you're sure it isn't elsewhere?" She flicked her eyes up to meet him, one pink eyebrow arched delicately and he scowled.

"No, nothing."

Her entire demeanor changed as she dropped her sleeve back down and brought one finger to tap on her chin. The silence dragged on and Sasuke simply watched her contemplate as he tried to sort his own thoughts.

"Besides the obvious," She began. "I know this isn't a genjutsu and we're currently lacking any physical manifestations of our abilities if it were any other mind trick. While Sharingan is capable of rending someone useless it's simply because the odds are against them in Tsukiyomi. Whatever their strength is, is usually ripped from them in place of their weakness. Such as area, environment."

Sasuke grunted in reply, "Get to the point."

Snapping him a dirty look Sakura sighed and dropped her arms and her shoulders slumped slightly. "The only other conclusion would be a very delicate alteration jutsu, but given who applied it to us.. It makes a lot more sense." She locked eyes with Sasuke and pursed her lips. "He sent us back in time."

The information made him numb and he simply stared at Sakura as she shoved past him and made her way back to her mother who was now calling her name. Back in time? He knew Tobi was powerful and capable of space altering jutsu's but to send someone back in time? The sheer amount of chakra needed..

Sasuke froze when a hand landed on his shoulder, tilting his head back cautiously until the face of his mother appeared in his peripheral vision. With a slight sag of relief he turned to face his mother's stern look.

"I told you not to wander off." She chidded, grabbing his hand and he remained quiet looking up at the woman who was now towing him along to her next destination in the market. The way the sun reflected off her hair and as she turned back to smile at him, he couldn't help but tighten his hand in hers.

He was going to save them this time, he swore it.

Sakura hummed softly as she followed beside her mother, hands clasped behind her back as she took in the wears of the market. There were so many new things to see, if her theory was correct a lot of things hadn't been built yet and a lot had not been destroyed yet either. It felt like she was exploring the history of her village first hand, as a child she wouldn't recall much of this information. But given her body's age and the fact she still retained all her memories of the future it was safe to say the only thing she did retain from traveling was her current mental state as a young adult. While she was a bit miffed that she would have to work on her reserves and stamina again, she knew it was for the better because the sooner she started the better she would be. Stronger then her old self, if not better.

"Was that a friend of yours, Sakura?"

Breaking from her own thoughts, she looked up into her mothers green eyes and gave a soft smile.

"I see him at the playground every so often."

Haruno Chouko hummed in response, ushering her daughter along as they continued their grocery shopping.

It was another hour and a half before they had finished their grocery shopping and Sakura gnawed on the bottom of her lip as the two of them approached the clothing store that she had always bought from as a child. Hand tightening in her mothers as she planted her two feet down.

"Okaa-san." She started, looking at the shop and staring at her reflection in the windows. Chouko stopped and looked down at her daughter, and then toward the clothes shop and could feel a smile blooming on her face. "Ah, Sakura-chan did you want to go clothes shopping hm?"

The words her mother said went into one ear and out the other as Sakura continued to scrutinize her appearance. Was she really going to buy clothes to blend in now? It would be another couple years before-.

Sakura tugged on her mothers hand again and Chouko watched the expressions flit across her daughters face and knelt down to her height.

"Sakura, you just went shopping."

Her green eyes snapped to her mothers and frowned slightly looking down at her red outfit.

"But.."

Chouko hummed softly, tilting her daughters head back up to face her.

"How about we look around and if you see something you really, really like I'll consider it. Deal?"

Sakura nodded her head once and watched her mother stand up before tailing behind her mother. The small bell of the store chiming softly as they entered, the store owner popped his head around the corner to greet them with a friendly smile. And while the two began a small conversation Sakura quickly extracted herself from her mothers hand and made her way over to the kids section. They all contained bright and colorful garmets and Sakura pursed her lips as she trifled through as best she could with her height.

"Sakura, the reds are over here." Chouko said, coming over to her with a little bit more than surprise on her face. Sakura scrunched up her face as she turned away from her mother in an attempt to act sheepish. How was she to explain a sudden need in color and wardrobe change?

"I want green."

She said childishly, looking back up at her mother and pointing to some of the lighter but dull greens. Chouko looked at her daughter carefully for a moment, and Sakura could practically see the gears in her mothers head trying to process the sudden change in clothes but after a few moments the woman simply sighed and nodded.

"Well, at least lets look in the right size, ne?"

She smiled and Sakura could feel herself flush and the sound of her mothers laughter only made it that much darker.

Sakura hummed in content as the two of them made their way home, a small bag clutched tightly to her chest. It only contained a few new shirts and some things to help cover her arms but to Sakura it was enough for now, it added some variety into her red wardrobe and as time progressed she could slowly just replace all of them with different colors.

"Thank you Okaa-san."

Chouko looked down at her daughter, white hair falling over her shoulder as she beamed at her daughter. Groceries clutched in both hands.

"You're very welcome Sakura-chan."

It was as Sakura was putting away her new clothes to keep them from getting wrinkled that the clock on her arm moved and the searing pain blooming in her arm began again. A startled hiss slipped from her mouth and she pulled herself from her closet and yanked the sleeve of her shirt up to reveal the slow ticking of the minute hand clock. Her jade eyes narrowed as the skin prickled and burned she blew the hair from her face and sighed. Tomorrow it seems she was going to have to spend her time doing a little research on blood seals, and this one in particular.

Author's Note: So I'm reallllllly sorry this took forever! I'll be honest I had some of it written up and then I looked at it and went "This is rubbish" and just left it. It wasn't until today actually that I just said to myself "Screw it, just update and you'll improve your writing over time and eventually go back and re-write chapters." It's not as long as I'd like, but I figure something is better then nothing, yes? Also, they'll very in length but I really couldn't see this chapter ending any other way it was actually going to end a little bit sooner but I added some more stuff in. So yes chapters may get longer, it's honestly just where it feels right to stop it but I'm hoping to make them longer for you guys!

So here we are. I just want to point a few things out in this, while Sasuke and Sakura both went back in time this will be centered a bit more around Sakura. You'll find out why and yes you'll still see Sasuke and what he's up to but a lot of planning is done by our mastermind Sakura.

Another thing is I want to point out Tsukiyomi before some fans may chew my head off. Tsukiyomi is a powerful illusion, and in most genjutsus most shinobi retain their abilities but may not be able to escape said illusion. I'd like to think Tsukiyomi is the same, the only difference is they change the playing field completely by putting you in your weakest area. Most people who are all around or have physical strength are generally restrained while others who are best with elemental affinities find there are no elements to call forth and such. While I know that may not actually be the case, it's how it's going to be in this story! Plus Tsukiyomi doesn't really play much of a roll in this story so I doubt it'll be touched often.

Uhm. It's kind of a filler chapter but I'll be honest it's going to be that way for a few chapters and yes unfortunately it is necessary to the story. It may be boring to read but they'll help you understand how future things are going to play out.

Another fyi is Sakura honestly hates Sasuke right now. While she's not out for blood she's a little reluctant to be around him and annoyed when she is.

I think that's about it, oh! I know some people don't like Japanese terms when this is clearly written in English but I'll say this now - it's my story and if I feel it flows better then it's going to be that way. I've had a few people point this out to me in past stories that it irks them and I apologize. Honestly it's mostly just going to be honorifics and things such as okaa-san and oto-san. I'm not going to start throwing in sentences in Japanese. Just thought I'd point this out.

I got the name Chouko from a story I'm absolutely in love with, and hopefully I'll be as good as they are at writing some day, so go check it out!

The First Flower of Spring by Evil Is A Relative Term

So! Thoughts on the story so far? What do you think the clock actually is winding down to? What do you think is going to happen and what would you like to see happen? Review with your answers!

Hopefully some of you are still with me and I hope you'll continue to stay with me!

Thanks for your patience!

-Tainted