A/N: Unfortunately, no Naruto in this chapter. However, true fans would know exactly where the little MC landed herself by the context clues and the few characters that appear in this chapter.

Warnings: Panic/anxiety attack, mentions & symptoms of PTSD, unfamiliar environment, Killing Intent, near-death experience, first kills.

? ARC

Step one to dealing with a panic attack; identify it as not reality, but as what it is(ie. realize that it's just a panic attack instead of thinking you're dying.)

Step two; calm down before your mind is blotted out by emotion, or PTSD(focus on literally anything other than this helpless, suffocating feeling and get your mind out of whatever flashbacks you're having. Well, absolute denial also helps with focusing on something else.)

I'm alive.

I was tortured.

I was murdered.

I died.

But I'm alive.

I'mnotdeadI'mnotdeadI'mnotdead

This buzzing going on all around me wasn't helping either; I swear I was being drowned in an invisible, heavy(but fluffy... almost) force, or coated in a cool, liquid, humming energy. Is this what being a Jedi felt like, with all of the Force surrounding them? I did not like that...

It wasn't right. It's like a sixth sense was forcibly jammed into my already perfectly working five senses. It was uncomfortable, but it was so innate with the surroundings that it felt almost natural.

But I can ignore this... hopefully.

The world was so different than my own, or at least what I was used to. There were trees everywhere, for one, while I had never moved outside of the city. Born and raised in New York City. I knew what a forest was, I wasn't uneducated(as obvious by the medical degree I had ownership of), but I had never really gotten to see one in person. I looked down from the branch that my feet were firmly perched upon, and took a deep breath; I was up multiple meters, perhaps five!(That's about fifteen feet, for those of us living in America.)

There was no way to get down from the tree except for jumping down because there were no sturdy branches under the one I was currently on. This realization made me take in a sharp breath and gulp.

I hovered my left foot out over the branch, squeezing my eyes shut.

Was I really going to do this?

I let out a long sigh.

Yup.

And hopped off of the branch.

I didn't let out a scream in the fall simply due to the fact that nobody would hear me(probably), but I noticed that I twisted my body around midfall with expert grace. Acrobatics were never my thing, as I had no need for them in the medical profession, but it just seemed natural to turn in midair. I landed softly in a roll, eyes still shut, and as a complete body - not a bloody splat on the ground.

I took in gulps of air, not quite believing that I was still alive in between the fifteen foot fall and the brutal stabbing.

Actually, nope. I'm not even going to think about that.

Again, denial was pretty good at covering up any sort of trauma. Well, it would harm me more than it would hurt me eventually, but I've decided that this was future-me's problem.

Hopefully, future-me has a therapist.

My eyes finally began opening, the soft light from between the leaves casting a shadow underneath me that I was acutely aware of. In fact, I was aware of so many things that I didn't think were possible.

The entirety of the world around me was so much more vivid than I ever remembered it in sight alone, but I could also feel the cool bark of the trees, the soft sway of the grass, and the dampness of the moss and dirt around me without even touching it. (And this infuriating buzz) I could hear the rustle of each leaf in the trees, and noticed that they had a pattern of when they brushed up against each other. I could smell the musky forest scent, something that I was accustomed to somehow while never having had smelt it before. I took in another breath just to savor the calming smell.

Then, I sighed it all out; I have to do a check of myself, and get a better idea of what was going on.

First, I looked at my hands and blinked. They were pale, as if hidden from the sun for days at a time, but not never seeing the source of Vitamin D. But that was normal; what wasn't normal was the roughness of the palms contrasting against the smoothness of the back. I didn't have calloused hands, but now I do? I ghosted my fingertips over my palms, feeling the hardened crevices. Seeing the moonlight pale crisscrosses that were scars. Yup, definitely real.

Looking further up my arms, there were midnight blue -near black- sleeves that ended mere inches above my elbows before flaring out, as if to keep the rest of my arms cool. I mentally noted that the material of the qipao1 shirt that I was wearing was thin and breathable resulting in a very flexible clothing. I was also wearing... black leggings. My regular, casual attire included a baggy hoodie or sweatshirt and sweatpants or leggings, so this wasn't too different.

Wait, who changed me?

Seeing as no one was around, that was a question for later. So, despite my irritation at the subject, I ignored it in favor of saving the idea for later.

Black combat boots hid my feet from view, and I had an odd helmet that kept my hair back. Thinking for a moment, I reached up to my head and slipped off the helmet.

It was polished, definitely, and a shiny golden color, though having a more rustic look rather than bold. Intricate carvings were embedded into the metal, and created designs similar to large waves and tsunamis(tidal waves). Humming at the new, and very odd, piece of attire, I decided to put it back on my head.

My hair was still black, but much longer. Like, down to my waist long and it was in a loose ponytail that was braided at the end. Usually, I had hair that ended at my shoulders but was tied back in a lazy bun.

A leather pouch and two holsters were hanging onto a leather belt that was tied at my waist, and curiosity made me open them. With what I identified as muscle memory, I opened the packs with precision; there were three latches, making it pick-pocket-proof unless you were me obviously, who had solved the contraption within a second- not even.

I looked in, and scrunched up my nose.

Knives.

Not scalpels, but actual dagger-like knives.

They were diamond in shape, like that ancient feudal Japan ninja weapon; the kunai. What were those doing in my bags? I closed that pouch, and checked the holsters.

Two Japanese fans, both made out of dark cherry-wood and blackish-blue silk. I plucked one out of the holster; it had designs of waves on it, outlined in gold print. I flicked it open, and blew it on myself. Then was blown back a bit while a wave of tiredness was hidden by my confusion.

Wow. I had just blown a large gust of wind at myself... what?

I slowly snapped it closed, and replaced it back into the holster before getting the other one. It was another fan, the same as last save for one thing.

Razors.

Razors were on the ends of each segment of not wood, but steel, that kept the fan together.

I cringed and put it back; there was one more thing tied at my waist, and I had been prolonging and procrastinating the time needed to take it out of its shiny, black wooden sheath at my hip.

A long, thin blade.

I took a deep breath, and slid it out of the wooden sheath. It seemed to glow gold in the sun, but was obviously a pale moon-colored sword. The handle, however, was intricate and definitely the same material that made up my helmet. A dull gold. The blade was a katana; Japanese in nature, as was just about everything else that made up my clothing and weapons. I sighed; what the f- nope. Dignified.

I sheathed the blade, ignoring the fact that the sharp saber could cut through bone like butter; I could tell because I knew what kind of things could cut through bone, and just wow.

As I sheathed the blade, I noticed something was connected to the sheath by rope, hanging at my back. A scroll of sorts, like the ones you'd see in fantasy with a guy proclaiming a prophecy. I undid the ropes, fumbling with the rope and and untying it, I opened up the scroll. A few odd drawings were on it, too deliberate to be doodles but not resembling anything that I could identify enough to be anything else. I tied it back to the sword sheath.

I cracked my knuckles, a nervous or thinking tick I had formed a while back. Review time.

I had died. I am back. What?

I huffed, and ignored this.

Restart.

Objective. What is my objective? I am in a random forest? I think? I sighed.

Objective; find someone, ask for whereabouts, find civilization. The sun should be a good indicator of where's north, south, east, west, so on.

That was fair, and realistic enough.

I nodded; and remember, I told myself, stay dignified.

I did stay dignified... somewhat.

Wandering the forest, counting the steps(9,042... 43...) I took and following the sun had proven difficult after the first three hours. I surprisingly had enough stamina to do so, but was slowly getting lactic acid burning in my legs, but the mental capacity? Well, yes, but actually no.

I was hungry, bored, irritated, and confused. That kind of made for a bad concoction of an emotional mess, but I bottled it up for a mental breakdown for later.

I have not yet found anyone, nor any sign of civilization. That honestly sucked, and I was used to being able to see someone left and right of where I looked whether I was in the hospital or in the city.

Bringing up a hand to pinch my nose in irritation, I screwed my eyes shut and reviewed everything that I had noted so far.

I am no longer 34... that was a shocker, but made sense when I noticed my lack of a rack, the structure of my teeth, and length of my hair. I had only ever had my hair that long when I was fifteen, and cut it all for my next birthday, so that also gave me an idea that I could have time-traveled or something to that extent(Or was in a coma, but I had vivid memories of being dead-). I am in a forest... with trees that I don't believe are native to America... I had seen some Japanese maple tree leaves around, and had studied medicinal biology and botany(so I could use plants to create temporary treatments if it ever came down to an outage of medicine. It was unnecessary, but I've always had a paranoid streak).

Another hour or two passed as I was lost in thought, counting my steps.

I have used and will potentially need to use the weapons in my pouches. The weapons I had were slightly worn in at the handles, but were sharpened and taken care of(along with the callouses and scars on my hands...). I wasn't a weapons expert, but I felt that I could understand things I've never understood before in regards to weapons.

I am wearing some oddly styled clothes... The seams and stitching were fine, but not as precise as any of the sewing I've seen sewing machines do. They held some Asian properties too, and I have nothing even remotely Asian in my wardrobe.

Speaking of...

The "Asian style" is practically oozing from the air... Numbers in the back of my head were swirling in sync with each step I took. I am currently at 19,733 steps... It's been nearly five hours of nonstop walking when finally-

Holy sh- ahem, is that a bridge? The mean whispers of 'stay dignified' popped out at me in my thoughts as my shoulders sagged in relief at the first sign of civilization I've seen. At this point, sweat clung from my forehead to my helmet disgustingly, but I didn't mind. I had gotten sweaty and nervous(more so) when I was doing an intense surgery.

I sped walked over to the bridge, finally regaining the lost hope I had for human contact.

And then... I saw two men tied to a tree in thick rope. They were both wearing gas-masks without the visor, and metal-plated head gear.

...What?

My mind pulled a blank, and I paused before continuing to walk over to them. However, I was much more cautious when I saw that they had bladed metal claws each, but on one hand. My hand inched towards my pouch full of knives by what I could only guess what was instinct before I had realized what I was doing.

Oh my God... I was about to pull a knife on these guys... yeah, they're scary, but does that garner the need to threaten them with weapons?

I excused myself when I saw their claws twitch as their dark eyes snapped towards me. A thick, horrible feeling filled the air and I was sweating bullets. By muscle memory, my fingers jumped to my pouch and undid the clasps within a split second of feeling the heavy air.

The air was heavy, and my insane ability to sense things had even increased in intensity. I could feel each hair on my sweaty neck rise, I could feel each of my muscles tense and itch in the path of murder, I could feel my body get uncomfortably hot as the air around me grew colder. I could even see each movement, no matter how minuscule, on the two bound men in front of me. It was like my senses honed in on two parties; myself, and those men(shady, scary, and very sharp with all of those blades, but under all of that armor and weaponry, they're still men.)

My mind was silent, but I could hear my emotions speak loudly. Intentionally pushing them down, I willed myself to think logically.

'Oh my god why do they have knives-' no. I can't use emotions to identify the best outcome in this situation. 'Identify... identify them...' slowly crept into my mind. That sounded logical.

"Who are you?" I spoke, hearing my ice cold voice squeak in a childish, high-pitched voice. The noise was enough to make my ears bleed, in the over exaggerated sense - I was not used to hearing my fifteen-year-old self speak after all these years. I was used to the dead-toned, tired voice of the workaholic adult that I am- was... am? I don't know what I am anymore.

They were silent for what felt like an eternity, save for their ragged breaths - this particular breathing only heard when someone had used an intense amount of adrenaline, or had gotten beaten, or sometimes even both. Since they wore such thick garments and armor, I couldn't properly diagnose them, but I wasn't even sure if I wanted to even get near them.

"...What's it to you, kid?" One of them spoke. One of them actually spoke. It was a horrible sound, less horrible than my own voice. He sounded like he smoked a pack every five minutes, with a gravelly tone that had no actual voice; just a guttural mashup of choking and growling. Swallowing my fear, disdain, and slight surprise, I finally shrugged after mulling it over.

"I don't actually know...," I came up with. I just needed answers, but I'm nearly to afraid to ask anything from these guys... Ugh, I need a steaming cup of coffee, black and as bitter as my soul.

What was I expecting from these guys anyway, a bouquet of daisies and a paragraphical solution to all of my problems? Obviously not, but I needed an answer for some of them.

"Where are we?" I slowly asked, unsure of the words tumbling off of my tongue like a waterfall.

"What, lost?" The other one sneered. I frowned, but hid the irritated twitch of my fingers.

"Yes, actually," I decided to speak the truth, wanting to see their reactions. However, it was just as I expected it to be.

"That sound like your problem."

Careful not to give in to my murderous urges of throwing my knives(where are these thoughts coming from anyway?! I'm a doctor, not a murderer!), I slowly breathed in before letting out out, slowly and calmly.

I have to access the situation.

My panic and fear was quickly subsiding, as the men were bound. It didn't matter how hostile they were since they were tied in such a way that prohibited any movement that would get rid of their bindings. It was a good job of tying; it must have been done meticulously and carefully with either the consent of the duo, or when they were unconscious. The latter seemed much more probable, since they do not look happy with their situation. (But who would tie up two unconscious men? ...did someone knock them out just to tie them up?)

I am at a loss of information. It was irritating, since I was always as informed as I could possibly be when I was in the ER.

The irritation was almost amplified by the knowledge that I had yet to find out where I was. Or why I was suddenly fifteen. But, I know I had to keep a level head. Dignity was a big thing for me, and to lose it all over a simple rant was unappealing. However, what was appealing was gaining knowledge. I breathed in slowly to compose myself. If asking kindly didn't work, and intimidation is out of the picture...

Bargaining.

"I'll tell you what," I lowered my voice to a cool, calm tone. "I'll make you a deal." The men seemed very uninterested.

"Yeah, yeah, go away kid," one of them grumbled.

"You tell me where the people who beat you up went, and I'll set you free." That certainly got their attention. I scanned their reactions quickly and precisely, feeling a spike of interest flood the air suddenly.

"..." they looked at each other before their eyes squinted- I saw by the way their cheekbones moved that they were grinning, which was very concerning. Did they have a plan already? What two thugs in the middle of nowhere have telepathy? Are they... considering anyway? "Sure, kid." One of them sneered. The other spoke up. "Thattaways." He jerked his head in the direction that I had been walking in anyway. "Now, are you gonna keep your end of the deal?" Now that I was thinking it over, why would I just let some thugs loose for information?

Because, despite my pride ignoring it, I knew that I was desperate.

"...alright," but, despite my desperation, it would be best to keep my word. Those who fulfill promises are more respected(and sometimes even feared) than manipulative snakes. I took a step forwards, then another. It didn't feel right, walking towards them. It was like I was crawling right into a lion's mouth. But... I still had to keep my side. Another step, then another. Now, I was close enough to see the amusement dancing in their dark eyes. They knew I was scared. I pulled out one of the diamond-shaped knives and knelt in front of them. I was shaking, anxiety starting as soon as the blade touched the rope-

They were free and I had no idea where they just went.

A malicious laugh sounded from behind me as the wind was displaced. My eyes barely had time to turn to the ends of their sockets when I propelled myself forwards, doing a somersault as my hand shifted its form on the knife. When my thoughts returned to me, I realized that I was in a superhero landing pose. I blinked.

'Since when- whoa!' I brought up the knife just in time to block the sharp blades that made the mens' claws, and was pushed back by the force of his attack. I held up my other hand, pushing my wrist forwards to keep the claws from piercing my skin, which they were very close to doing. Speaking of close, I looked up right into the man's eyes when I saw it. The animalistic glint in his eyes. That's when I realized, I hadn't freed any regular thugs. I had unleashed two predators- monsters.

I felt a mere breeze to my left, which had subconsciously tipped me off to the fact that the other guy was charging straight for me. Adrenaline spiked in me, as did absolute terror, and I abandoned my effort to hold off the claws in order to get the hell out of the way.

Ahem, sorry.

Just get out of the way.

Dignity.

My body didn't need telling twice. I barreled around the first guy to avoid the second, when something horrible happened. My body reacted on its own; I was behind the guy and brought my kunai down on him and oh my God I just killed him.

His muscles tensed up as the blade went through his heart(I knew the anatomy), and he fell downwards. I had recalled realizing the knives were sharp, but this took it to the next level; as he slid downwards, everything above his mid torso was sliced in half, up to his head which was now separated in two. My eyes widened, and panic overcame me.

I just killed somebody.

The next moment was a blur that looked vaguely like the glint of metal and then I was standing above two bodies. Dead bodies.

Blood was pooling around them, seeping into the dirt slowly and leaving behind a rusty red color. I hated it. And the smell reminded me of when I pronounced my patients dead.

Just... it was me at fault now.

I breathed in shakily, dropping to my knees and hugging myself, head buried in my arms.

A/N: 1. Qipao - a Chinese style dress, similar to what Sakura wore as a Genin.

So, can anyone guess what this mystery arc is going to be about?