I was going to wait a while before I posted the next chapter, but I couldn't wait for you guys to read it. It hasn't even been on the site for a full 24 hours and I already have six reviews, two of which were given about ten minutes after the story appeared on the story listings.

Needless to say, I'm pretty chuffed.

After this, updates will become more regular. I'm currently hoping to update every one of my stories once a month, maybe twice a month depending on how ahead I am on chapters/how high the demand is/how many reviews and alerts I receive. I'm not making any promises as I hate breaking them, but I will try.

Anyway, please enjoy the next chapter and remember, reviews are very much loved. :)

CHAPTER TWO

The world was fuzzy.

Or at least that's what Sakura felt as she returned to consciousness and struggled to open her eyes. The last things she could remember was a hand jutting against the back of her neck, a rush of words and flash of silver before the darkness had consumed her. She blinked, trying her best to regain control of her sight. It was still dark and moonlight illuminated trees before her, indicating that she was still in the forest.

Somehow, the light from the moon above seemed brighter than she remembered.

She conceded that it must have been her eyes readjusting.

Recalling the battle between she and the strange rogue ninja, Sakura moved a hand to her pouch, and to her horror, the medical scroll was no longer within it. The man must have managed to take it from her after all. She cursed at herself inwardly, how could she have been so stupid? There had been no logical reason to engage him, especially when she had been somewhat close to Konoha.

The best thing she could have done in that situation was make her way back to Konoha as quickly as possible, and once inside the gates, the guards would have dealt with him if he followed, which she knew he would have.

As she attempted to get onto her feet, Sakura found herself swaying slightly but managed to keep her balance, her shinobi skills coming in handy for something incredibly simple. There wasn't much she could do now about the rogue ninja, he was obviously long gone and Sakura wasn't sure how long she had been out cold. Trying to track him down would be a futile effort, and she knew now that she alone would not be able to defeat him in another battle, especially as her chakra was depleted and she was fatigued.

It would be best for her to return to the village at once, report to Tsunade and explain to her what had transpired, and relay all the information she could remember of their encounter. She knew Tsunade would be annoyed that she had lost the scroll and therefore failed her small mission, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Brushing some lingering dirt off her dress and leggings, Sakura began her journey back to the village gates. Her head throbbed and her back ached from the position she had awoken in, the nape of her neck had clearly taken some damage from the blow earlier and was in quite a lot of pain. Sakura's nose was stinging, already beginning to heal in it's broken state. She didn't have enough chakra left to tend to it, that would have to wait until morning once she had properly rested, despite how much more painful it would be to break the healing bones yet again and reset her nose properly and then heal it.

Now, even more, there was nothing Sakura wanted more at that moment than a long, warm, relaxing bath. Her lips curled into a smile as she thought about what awaited her once she returned home, and with that thought she could almost feel her legs beginning to work faster. A bath would be the most blissful way to end such a stressful day.

The trees began to clear and lights from the village could now be seen, growing warmer and warmer as she approached. However, something at the back of Sakura's mind was sounding alarm bells. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen the night sky so illuminated by the village lights, it had been years. Konoha was half the size of it's former self, and therefore there had not been as many lights to generate such brightness.

She arrived at the gates, pausing tentatively as she looked in through them.

The village looked as it did in her memories. There was no sign, no trace that Pein had ever invaded, that he had demolished the buildings and left a giant crevice in the middle of the area. Sakura raised a hand to her head. How long had she been out for? Konoha had been completely rebuilt, she could see it before her very eyes. This was no gen-jutsu trick, she would have picked up on something like that straight away.

Her best bet now would be to track down Tsunade and get some answers. She strode in through the village gates, as she had countless times before, and looked to the guard-post, expecting to find faces she was familiar with, those of Kotetsu and Izumo. However, the gazes that met hers were foreign and unknown, and approaching her rather quickly.

"You! Stop right there!"

"What business do you have with the Village Hidden in the Leaves?"

Sakura blinked and stepped back slightly, she had been unprepared for this kind of welcoming. As the Hokage's apprentice, she was well known within the shinobi platoons, especially as she had medically treated countless of them over time. Her unique features also helped others to remember her, not many had hair as bright as hers, nor such a hue. Therefore, it was incredibly rare for her to not be recognized.

Before she could ask the two men before just what the hell was going on, the guards spoke again, one of the pointing at the top of her head.

"Look at her hitai-ate…it's one of ours."

"But I've never seen her before…"

"She looks pretty beaten up, like she's been fighting."

"What do we do?"

"We should definitely take this one to the Hokage."

Finally, she was getting somewhere. The two guards grabbed one of her arms each, and she could tell that they also kept their free hands close to their kunai pouches. Silently she trudged along with them through the streets, her eyes focused on the ground before her as she walked, trying to get a grasp on what was happening.

This was her village, this was Konoha, that had been confirmed. But it had been years since the village looked like this, in all it's glory. The streets were filled with people, music and laughter drifting through the air. It reminded Sakura of older times, back when peace seemed to be obtainable and the world appeared to be a brighter place.

Before she knew it, they were standing outside of Tsunade's office, the door closed before them. Sakura couldn't help but smirk, knowing the wrath on the other side of the wood that would be heading in the guards' direction when she learned of how they had treated her apprentice.

One of the guards rapped on the door loudly with his knuckles, which resulted by a shout from the other side.

"Come in!"

The smirk on Sakura's face disappeared instantly. That voice had not been that of either Tsunade or Shizune. In fact, it hadn't sounded feminine at all. The men on either side of Sakura tightened their grips on her arms and pushed the door open, and she noticed with wide eyes that the office had changed dramatically, it did not resemble the one she had spent so much of her time in.

The chair behind the large desk was facing away from them, and Sakura could not see who was currently holding the title of 'Hokage'. Desperately she wished for it to be Tsuande, but the more time that went past, the more she realized that was not going to happen. Her stomach was in knots, she had a very bad feeling about all of this. Nothing made sense. Nothing was how she remembered it to be. Just what kind of scenario had she gotten herself into?

There was another man standing beside the desk, obviously the one who had called for them to enter the room. He said nothing, only looked at Sakura with dark eyes, his face betraying no emotion, strictly all business. Strangely, he reminded her of Sai.

Sakura bit her lip. Where were her friends? Were they out there somewhere in the village right now? Had they forgotten about her? She suppressed the thought instantly. First she would have to find out just what the hell was happening before she would allow herself to think of such things.

"Hokage-sama, we found this woman entering the west gates of the village with a Konoha hitai-ate on her head. However…we have no idea who she is. Neither of us have ever seen her before." one of the guards spoke, glancing briefly at his partner.

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows together in frustration. If only they had given her a chance to explain before marching her to the Hokage…

"Have you asked her about her identity?"

The voice sent a chill down Sakura's spine, her eyes widening to the point that they were in danger of leaving their sockets. She knew that voice. Despite not having heard it for years, she knew every tone, every octave. How…how was that even possible?

Her eyes somehow managed to widen even further with horror as the chair turned around, confirming her thoughts.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, otherwise known as the Third Hokage, was sitting behind the desk, watching her intently with his aged eyes, one white eyebrow slightly cocked up in surprise. Sakura stood frozen, unable to move or speak, her mind in overdrive.

The Third Hokage was dead. He had been dead for six years. How was he sitting before her now, as if nothing had happened?

He leaned back in his chair, mulling over his own thoughts. "Your reaction surprises me. Do you know me, child?" he spoke directly to Sakura, who simply nodded in reply, despite that he had referred to her as 'child' as she hardly felt like one. "Your hitai-ate, may I inquire as to how you received it?" he probed for more information.

Sakura gulped before managing to respond. "It was given to me upon graduating from the Ninja Academy of Konoha. You…you were there, Hokage-sama." she added, looking around nervously before her eyes caught sight of a simple calendar hanging on the wall near the Sai-looking man.

She squinted her eyes in order to read it properly, it was indeed the same day that Tsunade had sent her on errands, she could see that clearly, but what had happened?

Then her gaze moved to the year that was printed on the date.

"Fourteen years?" she gasped softly, unknowing of any of the others had heard her. She clasped a hand over her mouth. That couldn't be right. There was no way such a thing could happen. She knew of space-time nin-jutsus, but nothing that could achieve something like this.

Yet - everything fell into place. Konoha was still intact and had not been destroyed. The Third was sitting before her, clearly still alive and unknowing of his future demise. The guards at the gate had not been Kotetsu and Izumo who had been there for years now, they were unknown faces who had no idea who she was.

She was currently fourteen years in the past.

The Third looked to Sakura, concern and curiosity appearing in his wrinkled features. "Fourteen years?" he echoed, prompting the pink-haired girl to explain her exclamation.

She tried to compose herself for a moment before answering. "According to the year that is printed on that calendar," she indicated to the item on the wall, "I have somehow travelled into the past. The year where I have come from is in fourteen years from now."

Sakura was trying her best to keep calm, despite the rush of immense emotions that were desperate to be released. She couldn't afford to freak out right now, not until the entire situation had been assessed.

The old man's dark eyes widened at her words. "You say you are from a time yet to come?" he spoke slowly, trying to comprehend the information as best he could.

"All I know is that I was running an errand, delivering a scroll to a nearby town for…my shishou, when a rogue ninja attacked me. He claimed that not only did he want the scroll I was carrying, he also wanted me for an experiment, to try a new jutsu on me." Sakura sighed as her jade eyes trailed to the floor. "Seems as though it worked."

The Third gave her a worried look. "It seemed as though you had been through a tough fight, Your clothes might have faired well but the blood from your broken nose is evidence enough."

Sakura instantly raised a hand to her face, wincing with pain as her fingertips brushed over the broken bone from her nose. The blood had dried, but she could still feel it on her skin and grimaced slightly, her want for a bath increasing tenfold.

The guard on her left suddenly moved forward and spoke. "How can we know that what this girl is saying is the truth? She could easily be trying to infiltrate the village."

Sakura threw a glare in his direction as The Third spoke again.

"Despite how unusual the circumstances are, I have not found any reason to doubt this woman. There have been reports of other space-time techniques that have been developed and have had similar effects, although none of them on such a scale."

Sakura took in a deep breath, trying her best to keep calm so that could better understand her current situation. What would happen next? Would she ever be able to return to her own time?

Her thoughts moved to Tsunade, Naruto, even Kakashi… would they notice that she was gone?

"What is your name?"

Her attention returned to the elderly man before her as she realized she hadn't even introduced herself yet.

"Haruno Sakura, Hokage-sama. I'm a medical kunoichi, born and raised in Konoha, the first shinobi of my family." she explained, trying to give simple yet important details.

The aged Hokage raised an eyebrow. "A medical kunoichi?"

Sakura nodded. "I am one of the best in the village, the apprentice of Tsunade-sama."

A smile formed on the Third's lips. "Tsunade you say? You must be talented then if she has taken you under her wing." he said before his features hardened once again with seriousness.

"I assume that the younger version of yourself would currently be residing within Konoha?" came the nest question, taking Sakura by surprise. She hadn't even considered that. Of course, fourteen years ago she was a young girl of only four, living with both her mother and father in a small apartment in the middle of the village. What would be the odds that she would come across herself?

"Yes, I would be four by now."

"I see."

The Third stroked his beard thoughtfully before sighing. "I have to say, this is certainly a situation I could never have foreseen. We will try and find a counter technique that will return you to your own time, but until then you will simply have to remain here in the village and keep out of sight. There is a good chance you will come across those who are your family, friends, mentors, however you are not to engage them. No-one is to know of your true predicament, you are not to reveal anything that could affect events to come, no matter how tragic the outcomes may be. Even revealing to me that Tsunade is your shishou could be dangerous information. You must be careful, tampering with what is your past could result in dire consequences for the future, where you are from."

Sakura bit her lip. She had honestly already pondered about what would happen if she were to give vital information to those who needed it, to warn the Third that his life would be ended in a battle with Orochimaru after the Chūnin Exams, to find Jiraiya and ask him about his former student who would eventually become Pein and not only kill his sensei but destroy the village, to try her best to prevent the annihilation of the Uchiha clan that would occur in three years from now.

"I understand, Hokage-sama, but I can't just sit around and wait until I can be returned home. That could take weeks, even months. Even if I can't carry out any duties as a shinobi, I would still like to be able to put my medical skills to use and at least have a job at the hospital, that way I can be useful and have something to occupy my time. I can simply explain that I have come from a small town in Fire Country, and that my skills have been passed on through my family." Sakura protested, clenching her fists with determination.

The Third moved back in his chair once more, closing his eyes in thought.

"As long as you do not compromise yourself or your situation, I don't see why not. You will, however, have to remove your hitai-ate from sight and make sure no-one is aware that you have it, or questions will arise. I also suggest that you find yourself a new name."

"…actually, I would prefer to keep my own name. I might have to disguise everything else about my true identity, but that is the one thing I want to keep." Sakura exclaimed, resolve in her words. If she were to be called any other name, it would remove any sense of reality she had left. "I would of course invent a new surname for myself, and keep my distance from my actual family."

The Hokage sighed. "Fine. For now, you can stay at the nearby inn. I will organize for the owner to allow you to live there until the time comes for you to return home, but you will pay for your own food and necessities. I will find someone to accompany you around the hospital tomorrow and 'show you the ropes' as it were. She will meet you at the inn at nine in the morning." The Third informed Sakura before turning his eyes to the guards on either side of her. "You two, take her to the inn and tell the owner that I've asked that she can stay the night. If he has any issues, tell him to bring them to me."

The two men looked unsure of the entire situation, but nodded and bowed. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

The Third turned to the other man that stood silently beside him. "Junichi, I need you to head to the hospital and find Rin for me, then bring her here so that I may speak with her." The dark-eyed man nodded before promptly leaving the room.

Rin. Sakura could have sworn she had heard that name before.

She had no more time to think about it before the two guards ushered her out of the Hokge's office, mumbling to one another as they did so, Sakura ignoring their words as her head tried to get around everything that had transpired. She was too tired to deal with this all right now, once she had a bath, some food and a long night of sleep, she would be able to feel refreshed and coherent the next day to properly analyse her situation.

Yet at that moment, all she wanted to do was go home.

Here are three things you should know;

1. This is the longest chapter I have ever written for any of my stories.
2. It took me over seven hours to write, edit, and put on here. With a few breaks in between, of course.
3. It's been irking me lately that the time-travel fics I have been coming across don't seem to understand that messing with the past can alter the future. And that the character is open about who they are and where they are from, and their friends, while at first initially surprised, then just seem to accept it and everything is fine and dandy. It makes no sense to me. Rawr. /rant

Please let me know what you think, feedback is incredibly helpful and very much appreciated. :)