AN: Unfortunately, the actual only answer to 'how do you follow up a cliffhanger like that' is 'with a completely underwhelming resolution'. But that would have spoiled it.

I mean, if you don't count the 'let's rewind and pretend that cliffhanger didn't happen' choice.

I'm afraid there's not really any way to avoid Sakura's POV. It is her story, after all, even when she's having episodes. (At least right now, Goku's POV would be really boring and not all that much different from dragonball) As for inter-dimensional wishes with Porunga, that's a good question. I can't share the answer, but I do have it.

The Next Dimension Over

Chapter Sixty-six

The morning went by quickly, the others a blur of indistinct motion. They took down the house, and then the others got into their plane. She didn't say anything on the flight back to Bulma's home, and Goku didn't say anything to her.

She couldn't tell how much time passed as they were riding, but by the time they arrived at West City the sun moved from morning to late afternoon. The little boy whose village had just been restored seemed ecstatic (and a good deal less worn and battered than he'd been the last time she saw him), and Goku wasted no time in offering him a ride home with his golden cloud.

Standing in the front lawn of the Capsule Corporation headquarters, watching the sun set behind mountains she'd recently been above...

It was easy to let her mind drift back to before going on her mission for the dragonballs. When she felt full of hope and anticipation. The world and home was only a short adventure away, her friends and family were safe and happy, maybe even happy enough that her presence wasn't even necessary or missed.

She could feel an echo, a memory of the warmth she'd felt when she looked at the stars and imagined the ones at home. She remembered the satisfaction of seeing Naruto finally realize his dream, the tentative hope of Sasuke coming home and rebuilding Team 7.

She'd made herself imagine it all, and it was nothing more than the dream her family slowly died within.

She curled her arms around herself against the cool night air, and dropped her gaze to the grass in front of her. The last flicker of the flame that warmed her only weeks ago, died. No matter how much she wanted it to change, no matter what she would do to trade her place with theirs, it wouldn't change a thing. She knew that. Even in a world that could wish away a war, she couldn't wish back the people and the things she wanted.

But...without that, what did she have?

What was she?

Without her world, without her people, what kind of purpose did she have? A hopeless crusade of vengeance against a god-like being? Was that really all that was left? After so long, had the shinobi world been reduced to a girl looking for revenge?

Did Naruto become nothing more than a memory to fuel a fire of revenge that would burn every last part of her up until nothing but ash remained?

A soft sound, a scoff, danced across the air into the night, carried away into the very wind that cast Naruto and Sasuke away. Why the hell would it even matter if she did? Not a single person remained to be disappointed, not a single person remained to be proud. Nothing remained, and she didn't mean a thing.

The sound of the door echoed off of the walls behind her, and someone walked out in her direction.

She wanted to care. If she cared, if she could make the world around her matter, then she could find a purpose. But that was...

If she let go of the world she lost, no one would be left to care at all. Everyone she ever loved would have died, and no one would even care. Even if she could walk away, surely it would only make a monster out of her to go on living like she wasn't at fault, like she hadn't escaped and abandoned them. Even if she could find something to hold on to and a direction to go in this world without looking back, she might as well have chosen their fate herself.

"He won't be back until tomorrow, right?" It was Krillin.

She wasn't really sure why he stayed here, instead of going back to his home already. Maybe he wanted to be sure the wish really worked. After all, he'd been skeptical of the possibility of magical wishes up until now. The dragon's presence itself might not have been enough.

She lifted her gaze to watch his.

He frowned after a moment, and glanced away from her in the direction Goku vanished. "I...I'm not really sure I understand what happened, but...I guess I can make a guess at it." He glanced up at her briefly, and then crossed his arms, uncomfortable either with whatever he was trying to communicate, or her own silence.

"I ...uh...it's just that I've got an idea."

She frowned, then. An idea? "Krillin...?"

"Hey..." He gave a weak laugh. "You spoke again. I'm, uh...doin' great already!" He trailed off and rubbed at the back of his neck, glancing off somewhere in the gathering darkness of dusk. "A-anyway, whatever it is you were trying to have granted, that dragon said he couldn't grant it because he couldn't reach there, right?"

She sighed, and crossed her arms. The frustration she felt at the world quite easily bled into irritation toward the one speaking to her. "Krillin."

"What if!" He spoke more quickly, lifting a hand to forestall...whatever it was he thought she was about to do. "What if...you were to summon the dragon in that dimension? Wouldn't that solve the issue?"

Her hands fell to her sides, and she stared down at him, searching for some sort of appropriate answer. Or...reaction. Something. "...What?"

He grimaced, and shuffled. "Well...I mean. It's an idea, isn't it? You got here without a wish, right? If you can cross back over somehow and take the dragonballs with you before you use them, then he'd be able to do whatever you wanted over there."

That...

That was...

A very distant, very, very unlikely possibility. But it was so much more than nothing.

He gave a very unreasonable - and a little bit terrified - yelp when she pulled him into a hug.

(*)

The determination in Sakura's eyes worried him considerably. The fact that he'd seen nothing but grief and hopelessness in them since her failed attempt at a wish the day before only worried him more. It wasn't like he wanted to see her suffer. He wasn't that kind of a guy. Coming from a woman like Sakura, though, that kind of sudden determination wasn't generally a good thing.

Bulma didn't seem to be nearly as worried.

"Sakura?"

The pink haired woman walked toward the other, and he immediately felt himself tense. It wasn't likely the other would attack her now, when Bulma had actually been...surprisingly sympathetic and supportive of the woman so far, for her attempted wish hijacking. (Sure, they could have wished the village back anyway next year, but that'd be a hell of a pain. And unfair to that kid Upa.)

Still...that demeanor change had him on edge.

Ultimately, Sakura just stopped out of reach of the other woman. "Did you...still have plans to find a way back to my dimension with your science?"

Bulma blinked, and then gave a little shrug. "Well...yeah. I haven't been working on it though, since I've been helping you two with the dragonballs instead. But...those people you wanted to wish back. Are those the same people you wanted to go back to?"

Sakura's expression tightened slightly, and she dropped her head a moment, before she gave a short nod, and spoke in a quiet voice. "...They are."

"So..." Bulma frowned over at the other woman. "Even if I finished it-"

"I'll bring the dragonballs over there."

"You'll what?" He hadn't meant to get involved in the conversation if he didn't have to, but...what?

Krillin, who'd been lingering in the doorway, spoke up. "Well...it makes sense. If the dragon's power can't reach that far, if you summon it over there, the power would reach, right?"

Bulma hummed, and touched her chin. "...That's possible. If the power of the dragon works at all over there."

Sakura lifted her head again, expression intense, brows dawn tight. "Why wouldn't it?"

"Well..." Bulma shook her head. "I guess it wouldn't matter. If the dragon or the dragonballs are giving the power, as long as both are over there it should work. But...it doesn't change what I said before, Sakura. What you're asking me to do is...it's unheard of. I don't even have theoretical research to go off of, I don't even have a verifiable destination."

"...I've got an idea for that one, actually."

Both of the women glanced toward him, and that part of his mind that still decided to stab him in the back every time he needed to deal with a woman immediately regretted he spoke. "Er...well..." He coughed and scrubbed at his hair. Neither one of the women looked particularly patient. "It's just...uh. If you need to know where it is, you could just ask that fortune teller, right? She must be able to reach that dimension, right? And she's good with locations. If you need a destination, you could ask her."

Bulma blinked at him several times, and then sighed, placing her forehead in her hand. "...Ugh. That'll be another ten million zenni in smoke."

Krillin squinted, looking nervous over something. "You...heh...Are you gonna need to go right back out to do that, then?"

Bulma shook her head and waved her hand. "...No, I don't think so. Before I even think about where to aim something, I've still got to come up with something to aim." She sighed after a moment, and placed her hand on her hip, gaze returning to Sakura. "I'm not joking. It's going to take years. It could take decades. There's just no way I can make it go any faster than that."

The pink haired woman crossed her arms and gave a small nod, gazing off somewhere in the room where...no one actually was. "Whatever it takes. I'll do whatever it takes."

...A part of him wondered whether, if everyone was wrong, it would be better to ask the fortune teller ahead of time, or if it was better to let her live in hope, even if it was false.

Honestly...that just wasn't something a bandit like him could say.

(*)

"Ugh...why did I agree to this...?" The smaller boy grumbled behind her, hands gripping onto her arms with understandable ferocity.

"Oolong crashed your helicopter!" Goku said it...quite cheerily.

Admittedly, it might have been easier for Krillin if she weren't also taking up space on the cloud, but...going back with Goku to the house she'd waited in before felt like...something. She couldn't do anything to help Bulma, and the books the woman had thrown at her when she'd hung around too closely might as well have been written in some language she didn't understand.

It probably wasn't inaccurate to say that's exactly what they were.

Still, staying in that house for decades was...not...it wasn't something that felt right. She didn't know what felt right, but waiting there would only make it worse, and do nothing toward finding an answer for how she could stop Kaguya from killing everyone again as soon as she brought people back. She hadn't thought about it when she made the wish, because she hadn't thought about anything.

Now...

Bringing everyone back, finding a way to get there so that she could use the magical dragon to bring back everything she lost, that was only a partial solution. She didn't know what she would do if she ever had to watch Naruto and Sasuke die again.

Maybe it was impossible to ever become strong enough to deal with Kaguya herself. But...in a decade, if it would really take so long, maybe...something in this world might actually provide her with the ability to help. If she could help them, instead of standing on the sidelines wishing that she could do something, then she could make sure that they wouldn't die. Even if it meant trading her life for theirs in the end.

They would win.

Undoing everything that went wrong and setting right all that she had failed was a purpose. No matter how shaky and distant that hope was...she had to hold on to it.

The small island with the familiar pink house rose up to meet them, and Krillin was only too happy to scramble free from the cloud to the sand. Compared to the pressed and manicured way he'd looked when he first left with them, he looked a little bit like he'd gone through a war, not an empty fortress and a desert.

"Remind me to say 'no' next time you guys want to drag me on an adventure."

She squinted down at him as Goku dropped to the ground as well. "You're the one who wanted to go."

"Yeah, well. I'll remind myself it's a bad idea to go anywhere with you guys the next time that happens."

"What's the commotion out there?" The old man peered out through the door for a moment, before his expression brightened. "Ah. Goku, Krillin! You're back, huh?" He paused a moment, before glancing over at her. "Sakura, too."

"Yeah!" Goku nodded. "The dragonballs are gone again, so I wanna get more training for the next tournament!"

"...Me too, actually." Krillin shrugged. "I gotta get ready for the next tournament, too."

"Hmph. Well. I already told you I can't help you any more, Goku." He scratched his beard absently. "...Didn't I? You'll have to learn on your own now. Expand your horizons! There's more you'll learn out there than I can ever teach you."

"Wha..." Goku drooped his shoulders. "Aw..."

"So...are the two of you still traveling together?" The old master turned his gaze to her again.

She...didn't really have any plans. "Why?"

The man stuck one hand in his pocket, and leaned on the strange cane of his. "Well...I don't have anything more to teach you, either. Not until you've learned to master your ki. Go out into this world and experience it. Don't just fly over it thinking of that other world of yours. Once you do that...only then will you be able to manipulate your ki properly."

Goku glanced up at her briefly, and then gave a little shrug. "Okay! We'll go adventuring together then! Come on, Nimbus!"

The old man's cane smacked the ground. "No! If you want to grow, you'll have to do it on foot now! Running and swimming! No more flying!"

"Eh?!" He stared back at Roshi, and then up at her as if looking for support. But...well, it wasn't wrong. And they weren't in any hurry to go anywhere. After a moment, he gave a sigh of defeat and started off toward the water, kicking off his shoes. "I'll see you next tournament!"

Without any further hesitation, the small boy dove into the water surrounding the island and shot off with impressive speed across the water.

Krillin scoffed after a moment. "That guy...you should get going before he leaves you behind and forgets your traveling together or something."

That was...somewhat unlikely. Still. She summoned a small smile for him all the same, and a wave. Thanks to him, at least...she knew what she'd be running toward. And that made it worth running.

That, and the clattering crashes she heard behind her on the island the when she ran off on top of the water.

AN: THAT SAGA WAS ALMOST FIFTY CHAPTERS LONG AND I CUT OUT LARGE PORTIONS OF IT.

Originally, the discussion between Krillin and Sakura was going to be last chapter, but it felt too cheap to introduce a problem and give a potential resolution in literally the same chapter. Also it was getting long, anyway. This one is extra long, but it's the end of the quest for dragonballs and the red ribbon saga!

Ah, what fun there is in store for the future.