One day Sakura woke up after another intense day of gaming, and saw a blur in her vision.
Although it was not a blur but a video game interface.
What will tiny Sakura get up to when her life literally turns into a video game?
The Gamer AU inspired by the au's over on , starring baddie Sakura
A/N: Ayo, it's your smelly local fanfiction writer.
This fic is just pure wish fulfilment for me as the fics I am inspired by were never finished, and never starred Sakura as the main character. I personally think she would be a nerdy ass little shit who'd love video games so in my eyes she is just a perfect fit. The other girls just happened to slip into my heart as well.
Enjoy the mess.
[Fic will be written in SakuWriMo]
Sakura was not ready to admit it, but she was severely addicted to video games.
Technology was constantly evolving into new and amazing gadgets, and the video game console was the next big hottest thing. It was, however, extremely expensive to get. Only the absolute richest of the rich were able to get it.
That was unless you had the proper connections.
Sakura had never been more glad her parents were in the merchant business than the moment her dad arrived back home with the video game console. She was sure she suffocated him with continuous hugs that night.
There weren't many games yet, but one game was by far the best above all others. The "Cherry Bomb" franchise was already a familiar sight to Sakura, as it was one of her favourite book series. The authors were somehow able to get a deal to turn their universe into an RPG game, which absolutely delighted Sakura. How they were able to get out such a complex game so quickly though? Nobody knows, not that her six-year-old self cared much.
All she knew is that she loved the main character Saki so much, and that she was eager to play as her own character equally as badass as her.
Well, characters is what she should say. Sakura had already finished the game multiple times, each time trying out a different playstyle. One time she was a crazy tanky character, the other time a one-shot wonder, while another time she played as a support. Currently she was building an all-rounder, as she enjoyed each playstyle as much as the other.
Building an all-rounder character though was time consuming. Not that she minded, as the slow grind was still as enjoyable to her as the fast paced battle sequences. To her it was more time to spend in the game, which was always a plus.
As Sakura was exploring one of the many dungeons, she stumbled upon a hidden corridor. She jumped up and down in her seat on the couch in the living room, eager to explore the newly found content.
The corridor led to a series of mini-boss encounters, each more difficult than the last, and Sakura could barely hold her excitement. A few were quite difficult to beat, but her current character build was a perfect fit for the "Corridor of Doom" as she had aptly named it. When she reached the end, she was slightly disappointed to find only a treasure chest and not an epic boss to go along with it.
Shrugging, Sakura opened the chest regardless of her disappointment, and was confused to only see a dialogue box pop up.
【❀】YOUR REAL CHALLENGE STARTS NOW.【❀】
Thinking it would start an epic boss sequence, Sakura went to straighten up when she was hit by sheer tiredness. She yawned, stretching to see the time. It was only 3:30 PM and she still had some time left until dinner. She quickly saved the game in case she fell asleep while playing, but could do nothing else as sleep unexpectedly overtook her.
Sakura woke up with a start, eyes snapping open. She got greeted with the sight of her bedroom ceiling. Her breathing slowed down from its erratic pace as her body slowly acclimated itself to being awake once more.
Sakura groggily sat up, feeling entirely unrested. She tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes but failed to rub away some of the fuzz in her sight.
That is until she realised what she was seeing wasn't any fuzz at all, instead it looked like an interface not much unlike the one in Cherry Bomb. Sakura blinked slowly, assuming it would leave her vision as it did after any lengthy gaming session. Yet it did not fade.
She got herself up from her bed, moving slowly as to not get startled by any more unseen circumstances. She carefully let her eyes roam across the room but the interface did not fade for a single second.
Gently reaching out in front of her, Sakura tried to touch it as a new tactic. She jumped away in fear when the interface felt physical and a new screen popped up. Trying to catch her breath, she read the new information that popped up.
【❀】HARUNO SAKURA \\ LV.1【❀】
【 RANK: CIVILIAN】
【 OCCUPATION: NONE 】
【 AGE: 6】
【TRAITS: THE CHERRY BLOSSOM \\ THE CHOSEN】
【❀】STATS【❀】
【 STRENGTH: 0】
【 PRECISION: 1】
【 ENDURANCE: 0】
【 CHARISMA: 2】
【 INTELLIGENCE: 4】
【 AGILITY: 1】
【 LUCK: 1】
Sakura felt her mouth open in shock when she realised she had just opened a statistics screen about her real-life self. She rubbed her eyes once more for good measure but to no avail.
Sakura let it sink in for a bit as she went about her normal daily routine, entering the family bathroom to start washing up. As she looked in the mirror, the interface did not reflect back at her. She quickly concluded only she must be able to see it.
Sakura didn't know what to do with all this information yet, her six-year-old brain exploding with the possibilities and implications. While brushing her teeth she tentatively tapped a few more areas of the interface, all responding in various ways.
Through this she found an entirely new section labelled buffs. She had just received a buff called minty fresh.
【❀】BUFF: MINTY FRESH【❀】
【 A FRESH BREATH ALWAYS HELPS START THE DAY RIGHT. +15% SUCCES RATE IN SOCIAL INTERACTIONS. 29 MINUTES REMAINING.】
Trying to ignore it all, Sakura headed down for breakfast, picking up her pace slightly as she still had a play date with Ino that day. It was hard to focus on the task at hand though, as her tiny genius brain wanted to soak up more and more information. When she sneakily tapped another screen at the dinner table, she almost dropped her chopsticks. It was a party interface, meaning she could most likely show Ino and ask for her advice.
Quickly shoving down her breakfast, she suddenly felt eager once more. While Sakura was still unsure about the new development, questioning if it was just her daydreaming, if she could show Ino it would confirm she hadn't gone crazy after gaming for a tad bit too long.
All but dragging her mom out of the house, she raced towards the Yamanaka compound. She quickly bid her mother farewell as she raced into the house to find Ino in the backyard, weaving a flower crown.
Sakura all but sprung into the backyard, racing over. Ino looked up from her handiwork, regarding her with a raised eyebrow.
"What's up with you today?" she questioned, eyes calculating. Sakura usually was a lot more toned down and quiet but she couldn't help herself today.
"Ino- I- Follow me!" Sakura could barely get out a proper sentence in her excitement, dragging Ino along to a more shaded area in the forest bordering the property.
"Sakura!" Ino shouted indignantly when she finally let go "What is up with you today?"
Sakura, still vibrating from excitement, finally spoke "Listen Ino. What I'm about to show you is really weird but you have to trust me ok!"
Ino merely kept looking at her with her eyebrows scrunched up.
"Ok, ok." Sakura muttered to herself, slowly starting to tap towards the party interface. When she clicked the invite button she got a prompt to say who she wanted to invite aloud, so she did. "Invite: Ino."
As she heard Ino gasp, she looked up to see her hands beginning to rub her eyes much like she did herself that same morning. Ino looked up at Sakura, startled "What is this? Genjutsu?" she asked confused.
Sakura shook her head and walked over to her side. The interface was visible towards her, so she pointed at the "Yes." button. "Tap that." she said simply.
Ino obliged and tapped the newly visible interface. As soon as she tapped the button, a new interface popped into life, not much unlike Sakura's own. Whereas Sakura's was tinged a soft cherry pink, Ino's was coloured in a light lilac colour.
Ino still looked incredibly confused, so Sakura spoke up again "This morning I woke up with... this in front of me." she said simply. "It looks almost exactly the same as the game I love playing, remember that?"
Sakura had shown Ino the Cherry Bomb game before as she also was a fan of the book series, although in a lesser capacity. Ino had acted all blasé about it, stating video games like these were for nerds like Sakura, but she had noticed the interested glint in Ino's eyes.
"Wait- Let me ask you slowly," Ino began "You woke up and your world just looked like a video game?" she asked incredulously. Sakura nodded sheepishly, realising how weird it all sounded.
Ino however, got another calculating glint in her eyes "Have you tested out what you can do yet?" she inquired. Sakura shook her head, still processing the fact that Ino was taking it all in stride. Ino continued after her silence "Let's test it out then."
And that's how two six-year-olds were muttering conspiratorially to each other while running around doing the weirdest things in the Yamanaka main household.