Hiya! I'm back! As promised here's the new chapter and I'd like to thank all the support I got from my short hiatus message.
Voting has officially ended, there may be more voting in the future who knows? Unlike this time, I think I'll be setting up a poll instead, it makes things much easier but as decided by readers, this fanfic will stay as Memory Escape.
Now reviews!
ForgetfulDaffodil- One question before I continue with this reply... Are you french? Or at least speak french? One of my friends have french heritage and literally fangirled when she went through my mail (Without my permission of course)... Anyways... Let's just say... Adding a bit of back story to Konohamaru's origins was a last minute decision but nonetheless it still fits into the story like a jigsaw piece.
BizzyLizy- Lucky... Gosh... My country literally has abnormal weather changes. Last week was hot as hell being 35 degrees Celsius and now, 10 degrees Celsius (￣□￣) but I do have to admit that Australia is a great place once you get used to it.
*Guest*- Thanks for letting me know, I have taken it out of the summary but originally SasuIno was only going to be a minor pairing.
*Thatpastaperson*- Sorry voting's ended now, you can vote on other things when I put up polls and things to vote on my profile page.
*Guest*- Wow... I really didn't realise this, thanks for telling me! Since this is a fan-made fanfic there are some details that could go a little off. I suppose I could get around this by changing Sakura's death to a later time in shippuden. I guarantee everything will be fixed up between the uploading date of this chapter and the next. I think I'll even add in an extra chapter to clear some things up as well :3
Just a note,
Opposed to last chapter, this chapter will move a little further into the main Naruto series. There will be more filler chapters in the future when I'm writing a few more notes into the details of the main storyline.
STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY
Surely waiting in freezing cold weather early in the morning with the company of a Uchiha wasn't that bad?
Wrong...
Certainly the old Sakura would have appalled in delight about the simple idea but this Sakura was almost frightened to death by the thought. Being alone with a thirteen year old Sasuke while you were almost a full four years older and still had a crush on him wasn't what many would think to be an ideal situation to be stuck in.
Deciding to come earlier than usual, Sakura made her way to the front of the gates where she thought she'd be alone. The rosette could be alone with her thoughts about the information the hokage had dropped on her yesterday.
Technically, Sarutobi Konohamaru was related to Haruno/Nakato Sakura and the rosette was still a bit caught off guard by it. It occurred to Sakura that her coming into the past had changed the world from the one she knew.
Sakura didn't think there was a Nakato clan that originally existed at all, given that her mother's maiden name had been Asara which had been a civilian clan. Konohamaru however, the boy had never mentioned his parents. What might've happened to his parents in her old life?
The girl shook her head, there was no use thinking about it now. Her new home was here and she'd have to get used to what happened in this timeline. What happened to his parents in her old life didn't matter anymore.
It happened so suddenly, caught up in her thoughts, Sakura didn't notice the giant tree root in the middle of the path that would've been as clear as day to see. Her sandal hooked under the small gap under the root, Sakura yelped as she flailed, closing her eyes as she braced for the impact her body would make with the ground.
After a few moments, Sakura snapped an eye open to see the ground inches under her face.
"You should really watch where you're going Sakura,"
The rosette lightly glared at the Uchiha towering over her, preventing her from colliding with the ground by holding her arm securely in place. Sakura tugged at his hand to try and pull away with no heed.
"I'm fine," She grumbled as she continued to try and pry away his arm, "I can stop myself from falling Sasuke,"
The Uchiha simply just shrugged nonchalantly, "Sure," he let go of her arm letting her fall.
The sudden action caught the rosette off guard, she yelped as she swerved her body to try and land on her side instead of directly on her face only to be stopped once again, inches closer to the ground, "Did you really think I'd let you fall? You really need to have more trust in me,"
She wondered if Sasuke felt tingles running up his arm, his heart fluttering at her touch. She knew she was.
He gently pulled her up until she regained her balance, Sakura slipped her foot out from under the root and smiled graciously at him, he turned away from her as the atmosphere suddenly grew quiet.
"Uh Sasuke?" She asked in a small voice.
"Hn?"
Sakura hung her head and stared at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing in the world, trying to hide her embarrassment from the thirteen year old boy, "You can let go of my hand now..."
Sasuke's onyx eyes trailed to his hand still entwined in her fingers as if they belonged there, as if they were meant to be connected like two pieces of an a thousand piece puzzles. He looked back up at Sakura, smirking at her. The rosette simply gazed at him in curiosity with her cheeks tinted in a light shade of pink. He let go, immediately missing the warmth of her hand in his own but he didn't let it show.
Without saying anything, Sasuke turned his back on the gates and in the direction where a blonde came running to the two.
"All right! Let's go!"
"But where's Kakashi-sensei and Tazu-" The rosette faltered when she saw two men trailing behind Naruto, Tazuna lazily gulping up his alcohol and the silver-haired jounin with his hands stuffed in his pockets. She shook her head, "Never mind,"
"Why are you so excited for Dobe?" The Uchiha asked in his signature stoic tone.
The blonde pumped his fists up in the air, then up top his forehead and searched around the area, showing his enthusiasm, "Because I've never gone outside the village before dattebayo!"
Tazuna's brow furrowed, he put his hand on his hip and closed his eyes, "Hey will a kid like this really be capable of this mission?" He turned his head towards towards Kakashi and pointed at Naruto lazily.
"I, a jounin, will be accompanying you," Kakashi chuckled, his eyes creased as he laughed at the blonde's antics.
However Naruto crossed his arms and glared angrily at the floor before turning around and pointing at the old man in rage, "Hey Oji! Don't underestimate ninjas! I'm a great ninja!"
"I'm an elite ninja who'll receive the title of hokage one day! The name's Uzumaki Naruto dattebayo! Remember it!"
The rosette shifted her attention to some trees, furrowing her brow and sucking in a deep breath trying to remember anything that had attacked Team 7 last time. Her body stiffened once again as she felt a chakra signature through the leafy canopy of branches of the nearby trees but it was gone as soon as it came.
There was no doubt that it was the demon brothers, Sakura shuddered just thinking about the last time they had attacked them. Kakashi's remains exploding into small pieces as chains ripped him apart, how Naruto had frozen to the spot, how she'd been too weak to do anything to help leaving only the Uchiha to protect the bridge builder.
"Ne... you alright Sakura?" The rosette blinked as her world refocused, a strong arm gripped her bicep, holding her firmly in place.
She weakly smiled, "I'm alright, I just thought of something," Sakura shrugged off whoever was holding onto her arm, only realising the hand was Sasuke's once he'd released her.
"You spaced off, Sasuke-Teme caught you before you almost fell dattebayo!"
Kakashi cleared his throat, holding up his orange book in front of his face.
"If my favorite little genin are ready to go we'll be heading off to the land of the waves," The albino's lone visible eye creased as he smiled under his smile.
"Yosh!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air energetically.
The rosette wasn't sure whether Kakashi was only referring to her but she could tell that the man was starting to soften up to his new team, maybe even faster than last time.
OoOoOoOoOoO
"Ne... Tazuna-san,"
"Nande?"
"You're from the country of the wave right?" Of course the rosette knew the answer, she just wanted to get Kakashi to quickly see through the Tazuna's lie without seeming to suspicious.
He paused for a moment, "What about it?"
Sakura smoothed out the creases in her training dress before turning her head to Kakashi, "Ne... Kakashi-sensei, are there also ninja in that country?" Once again, she knew the answer.
"No, there are no ninja in the country of the wave," The rosette bit the inside of her lip, hoping that the jounin had somehow gotten the hint this time around when the demon brothers would attack.
"But while the cultures and customs of other countries may be different, hidden villages and ninja do exist," Sakura nodded in understanding as Kakashi continued with his talk.
She had known all this from her older life, it'd taken Sakura a little more than a few hours to understand all the different village customs and culture but now it would just come to her as general knowledge. The rosette vaguely took in any information and kept her eye out for the first sign post, the puddle on the side of the path.
"Ne... Kakashi-sensei," Sakura called out, she bobbed next to the puddle, completely sure of the disguised ninja inside.
"Nani?"
"Are there suppose to be puddles when it hasn't rained for months?"
The demon brothers took that moment to shoot out of the puddle, Sakura quickly rolled out of the way to avoid being ripped to shreds by the chains, her previous position was lined with kunai and shuriken. Instead of the chunin aiming for the jounin first. Sakura found herself being in the line of attack.
She quickly went through her possibilities, Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke were too far away to help her. The widening of the jounin's lone eye told her that he seemed to know that too. Kakashi could try to get to her but that would leave Tazuna open to attacks, the boys were too stunned to even grab their weapons to fight back.
'Remember Sakura, defend, don't attack. Attacking might reveal your strengths, plus, genin have only learned how to defend,' Sakura gritted her teeth, she'd have to listen to her inner for now.
Sakura quickly pulled out a kunai, deflecting the chains that darted towards her, then using her chakra to dash to one of the brothers while dodging the chains as best she could. The rosette ignored the pain that ran through her upper arm as the chain sliced through her flesh. She quickly calculated her strategy.
There was still the issue of her strengths, there were people watching her fight. Sakura couldn't afford suspicion from anyone, not even the hokage. The rosette delivered a punch without lacing her chakra into it. The chunin faltered, giving Sakura enough time to place him under a genjutsu. Her chakra was almost drained to nothing, Sakura winced, her reserves were still pathetic. She shouldn't have used her chakra to charge in so recklessly. She fell onto her knees, supporting herself with her arms.
The chunin fell to his knees then onto his side. Sakura spotted Kakashi running towards the other brother, only to be sliced up into little pieces.
Its just a substitution, its just a substitution...
Regardless of that fact, Sakura felt herself stiffen. The guts flying everywhere, the sound of flesh being torn up like it was of insignificance. She felt sick in the stomach, like she wanted to suddenly let out her breakfast from her mouth.
The remaining brother's eyes flickered at her, Sakura raised her kunai in order to defend if he was aiming for her. Then he dashed, not towards the rosette but towards the stunned boys. Sakura was much too far away to help the boys defend the bridge builder.
"Naruto, Sasuke look out!" The rosette screamed.
Sasuke seemed to be the first one to recover, he launched a shuriken at the oncoming chain, connecting the last brother's weapon with a tree, rendering it useless. Naruto had also seemed to snap out of his trance, before the demon brother could release the chain from his arm the blonde delivered a sharp kick to his jaw effectively knocking him out.
"Yo,"
Even though the rosette knew Kakashi was alive and okay, she couldn't help but feel relieved at seeing the older man alive and fine. The knots in her stomach loosened as she ran over to him and squashed him in a bear hug.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
Only Naruto seemed to look back at what had looked like Kakashi's flesh, meat, guts and viscera lying on the floor, only noticing that Kakashi had performed substitution jutsu which had ultimately saved his life.
"Sorry for not helping right away," Kakashi's eye flickered to Sakura's wound. It was a large cut reaching from a little below her elbow to her upper shoulder, in the midst of the 'intense' battle, the adrenaline left Sakura rather painless. The cut wasn't to say the least a shallow cut, being a medic herself, Sakura was sure that her triceps were severed severely, her flesh opening up to reveal her bone. The rosette's right arm was almost soaked in blood.
"I didn't think they would aim for you, you put up a good fight anyways," Sakura nodded, looking down at her cut, "There's poison on these guys' chains, we need to take out the poison right away and by the looks of that cut," Kakashi shook his head.
"You aren't in any condition to finish this mission unless you can get that checked out by a qualified medical shinobi," Sakura pushed herself off the ground, Sasuke was by her side in an instant, pushing her back down onto the ground.
"You shouldn't move too much, the poison will spread through your body. We'll remove it the you'll go back to Konoha," Sakura knew that under the younger Uchiha's stoic mask, he was worried. She shrugged of his hands off her shoulder.
"Kakashi-sensei, I'm fine, see?" The rosette started to leech out the poison from her arm, before mending her triceps back together then stitching up her flesh with her warm green chakra.
The jounin blinked in surprise, he turned to Tazuna and looked over at Sakura who was still mending her wound. Naruto silently watching in amazement at the rosette's medical ninjutsu and Sasuke cleaning off some blood from her skin.
"By the way Tazuna-san,"
"W-What is it?"
"I need to talk to you,"
A few moments later, the two chunin were tied up against the tree. Sakura's arm was functioning yet again, everyone stood around the two shinobi.
"These guys are chunin-classed shinobi from the Hidden Village of Mist. They're ninja known to keep fighting no matter the cost,"
The brother Sakura had placed under the genjutsu glared hatefully at the rosette, "How was that pink-haired wannabe kunoichi able to see through our disguise?"
Sakura pretended she hadn't heard the insult, they didn't know anything about her strength and she was simply holding back during the battle, "It hasn't rained for the past few days and its sunny today so a water puddle shouldn't exist."
The other brother glanced at chunin spitefully, realising his mistake and letting a pink-haired 'genin' girl get the upper hand.
"Why'd you pretend to die when you could've easily taken them out?" Tazuna pointed. Kakashi looked over the brothers, closing his eyes and opening them once again.
"I needed to know who the target for these two were,"
"W-What do you mean? We could've died dattebayo!" Naruto yelled angrily.
Kakashi simply pretended he hadn't heard the blonde, he turned his back to the youngest boy and continued his conversation with the bridge builder, "In other words, were you being targeted or was it somebody from our shinobi group?"
"We haven't heard anything about you being targeted by shinobi. Your request was to protect you from armed groups like gangs and robbers. This is a mission that's above a B-rank," Tazuna stared at the jounin indifferently but Sakura could tell what he was feeling, lost hope for his village.
"Our job was to support and guard you until you completed the bridge. If shinobi are our enemy, this mission would have been an expensive B-rank,"
"This wasn't a part of the mission,"
At that moment, Sakura felt her world spinning, her head pounding uncontrollably. She leaned over, falling into Sasuke's arms.
"Sakura! What's wrong?"
"Chakra... Little... Sleepy," The rosette could only get little words out before her vision was overcome with darkness. A sandstorm seemingly swept her away into a world where she couldn't hear or see. Sakura cursed herself for using too much chakra. She could only hope Sasuke and Naruto would do fine without her during the first confrontation between Haku and Zabuza.
Her thoughts dimmed until she felt the darkness of the world tying her down, pulling her away where she was needed most.
OoOoOoOoOoO
It seemed like hours since the darkness pulled her in. Sakura struggled to breathe, desperately trying to urge her hands to move and grasp her throat as if it would help her breathe again.
'Sakura, wake up,'
Her world was suddenly outlined with an outline of herself, Sakura's other self stared at her. The other Sakura was completely colorless with the exception of the white outline of her body.
"Inner?"
She nodded and helped her up, the rosette still felt the urge to breathe.
'You're unconscious right now so I brought here to your mindscape,'
Sakura groaned, looking around the dark and dingy place, "I'd never thought I'd actually meet the voice inside my head," The rosette retorted, "And I always thought that my mindscape would filled with water instead of complete darkness,"
Inner Sakura shrugged, the surroundings changed. It was still dark but the darkness didn't feel as thick. Both Sakura and her inner were standing pool of water reaching inches above their ankles,'This place can be whatever you want it to be,'
Inner Sakura shook her head, 'But that's not what I brought you here for,'
The said person gestured to kunai which once shone in the colors of the bright sun, 'Have you noticed anything different about that kunai?'
Before Sakura could reply, her inner spoke once again, 'The color's changed and the Nakato clan seal's disappeared. You may not realise it but that kunai was housing part of your mother's chakra, when you released whatever chakra was in it the kunai reverted back to normal,'
Sakura took out said kunai from her ninja pouch and gazed at it, rubbing her thumb against the cold metal blade, "Oka-san couldn't have sealed anything in it, she may have been part of that clan but according to the remaining records of the clan, Nakato clan members were regular ninja apart from the seals they were hunted for,"
Inner Sakura placed her hand on the blade, Sakura widened her eyes as her hand started to glow a faint shade of pink. Inner Sakura's body started to gain color, she grinned at Sakura before her white outline was starting to fade.
'Why do you think I exist Sakura? Because you're a descendant of the Nakato clan,'
Sakura's pupil dilated as Inner Sakura started fading away ever so slower, "But that means-"
'Mebuki had an inner too,'
Sakura shot up from her sleep, her breathing erratic, her body sweating like crazy. Who was Nakato Mebuki?
I'm going to be speeding up the story a bit. Longer chapters, more detail and more cliffhangers. Was the fight scene good? Apparently fight scenes are pretty hard to write. I'm currently working on chapter 4.1, in other words, a filler chapter that will take place between chapter 4 and chapter 5.
Anyone that follows this story... I am so sorry that I spammed your emails with new chapters. I wrote chapter 4.1 (the filler) and ended up moving it to the wrong spot so I had to delete all my chapters then repost but I got really confused so I did it again until I got the chapter order right and I am very so very sorry.
-LucidClockwork