It had been a whole year to the exact day. A year since she was in her own world. A year since her dreams came true of a reunited Team 7. A year since her teammates always so far ahead of her finally acknowledged her.
It was growing hard not to give up hope. She left a single shadow clone posted in Japan near where she first arrived here. There had been no sign of the rest of Team 7 in those six months.
It had taken her six months to arrive in Kansas, USA. Six months from the last time she saw her closest companion in this world. Six months since he told her the British Men of Letters might hold answers.
She had journeyed more than halfway across the globe in that time, hunting one lead after the next, pausing only to hunt monsters. She made good use of her false identities. She was still Ino Uzumaki as she hunted and connected with hunters. She was still Hinata Yamanaka when she interviewed potential witnesses on Ino's behalf, took odd research jobs for universities, and funded the two women's travels. Hinata was traveling and researching for her doctoral thesis, and Ino was her longtime friend accompanying her.
Her shadow clone in Japan pulled double duty. Dr. Tsunade Hatake was a doctoral level professor who verified Hinata's cover story and helped secure some of the research jobs.
Sakura had truly worked out a system that worked for this world, in the normal sphere and in the supernatural sphere.
All of her travels and hard work led her to the flat plains of Kansas. It was unimpressive to look at compared to the incredible views she had seen traversing Asia and Europe. Her hunter journal was nearly full, yet she still seemed to find something new at every turn.
Whether it was the colorful hunters of various countries she crossed paths with or her own experimentation, Sakura was a storehouse of knowledge and a force to be reckoned with. It was unheard of for hunters not born into the life to know so much so fast.
She felt a sense of pride in the title of prodigy and genius. It certainly was not something she was used to being called and revered for. She had spent nearly all her life in the shadow of others.
Still, the growing fame did have its own drawbacks. She shivered at the sudden memory of her first encounter with a demon. She could never afford to be possessed. The level of destruction one of those creatures could do using her body was frightening.
She was still channeling chakra into her seal after all. It may not be back to full capacity yet, but unleashing it again could level cities and kill countless innocent civilians.
She had anti-possession seals now all over her body and person to prevent that from happening. The brush of the foul smoke on her body from that awful day still made her feel violated. If not for the pendant she had in her pocket, it would have finished its journey down her throat and into her soul, taking her.
The demons seemed to want to get their hands on her for her obscure knowledge, being unaware of her chakra abilities. She intended to keep them in the dark.
She hadn't needed to use her full power on any of the hunts she had been on. From minor deities, vampires, witches, and werewolves, she had not found an opponent that challenged her like the Zetsu army and the undead participants in the war.
At best, the strongest and most challenging monsters she faced came close to a single Zetsu. Those few monsters that felt a chakra-enhanced punch were no longer alive to tell.
Sadly for her, the British Men of Letters no longer existed, having been recently dismantled. Perhaps razed was a better term. Their buildings were rubble and their members dead, many torn to pieces by hellhounds from what she could tell. She was the one to discover some of the bodies that the authorities still thought missing persons.
The best that Sakura got her hands on were only a few documents and books. She carefully sifted through the rubble of each site for a days at a time.
She only found and interviewed one former employee who knew next to nothing, which likely saved his life.
The one truly useful clue she uncovered was mention of an American Men of Letters operation. She soon learned that it too was largely defunct, except for two agents still operating.
She found that those agents were at least partly responsible for the destruction of the British branch. She would have to be cautious with them. She was certain they were the two men her sensei had mentioned.
During her travels after leaving England, she learned as much as she could about those two men.
They were not truly Men of Letters, only descendants that had lived as hunters before inheriting the remainder of the organization's possessions. They were wildly powerful and destructive, yet somehow also responsible for saving the entire world many times over. The Winchester name was spoken with fear, awe, respect, and sometimes loathing. Many blamed them for jeopardizing the world in the first place.
Their library was her last hope. If there was nothing the American Men of Letters had, then she didn't know if she would ever find her own way home.
Her next step was to meet them and somehow convince them to let her access their vault of information. Her name was not nearly as widespread and well known as theirs; they may not know of her or anyone that could vouch for her. As paranoid as low-level hunters were, there was a real possibility the Winchesters could know of her and still reject her proposal out of hand. They didn't let outsiders into their domain easily.
She knew if she stood any chance of swaying them, she would need to choose her introduction carefully.
She had heard enough stories to know meeting them on a hunt would be her best bet. She would make camp in the state, building a reputation in the area while taking on as many hunts as she could find.
Sooner or later, she would run into them directly or someone they knew who could introduce her for a hunt.
She started by replenishing her supplies and finding suitable apartments, one for Ino, one for Hinata, and one for a new ID. She would need someone more native to the area to divert suspicion from Hinata and Ino. This hadn't been an issue before as she moved frequently from place to place since leaving Japan.
A recently divorced and relocated yoga instructor from out of state would do for this identity.
She had nothing but time for this. Even if it took another year, she would have her hands on their books.