Pretty much the same story for all the other chapters, but I may or may not be finishing the Wave Arc this chapter.
Speaking of which, last chapter the idea I got for the spamming clones came from a different fic, and I just couldn't let it stay there. It was too good of an idea, so credit goes to them.
I'll be using a few clever references from other gifs because they're just that good, so I'm saying this now: not everything in my stories are mine. All references go to them if you recognize it. Today's a slow day.
Without further ado, please enjoy this next chapter of Restart!
She paused her looting when a rough scream sounded from her right.
Her hands paused in the dead man's kunai pouch; it seems like someone was in danger.
She wondered idly if they'll die soon.
With an inaudible sigh, she packed her findings into a nearby sealing Scroll and set the body quickly on fire, rushing over to the spot she heard the distressed screams.
She wandered into a clearing, pushing aside rouge sticks, cutting her hands, the pain shooting up her arms went unnoticed by her as he curiously peered through the bushes with dead eyes.
She was met with the sight of a wolf and its child; what she assumed was the mother huddled over their cub as they were beaten by enemy ninja.
With further investigation she deduced they were summons; she wondered why they were here.
It occurred to her as she saw the Scroll peeking out of the man's pocket; this was their summoner.
Why would a summoner beat a summons? For good? For pleasure? For grief?
Either way it was not acceptable.
The only thing that processes in her mind was Enemy. Victim. Kill. Save.
She slowly pulled out a kunai, its noticeable glint canceled out by the foliage. She rushed out of her hiding place, taking the enemy by surprise based on the stiffness they showed.
She smoothly cut through the neck, and hit a pressure point in the chest, constricting the blood flow, and her enemy died a soundless, clean, blood-free death.
Her last thought before attending to the animals were why she was so much better at destroying than creating.
The wolves howled in appreciation as her hands glowed a soft, jittery green, and she placed it on their wounds robotically.
"You seem to be summoning animals. Why didn't you go back?"
"Our home..it was destroyed.."
'Hmm, so he's going after different dimensions too. Sasuke..'
"I must thank you for saving us, Miss. Please, take our contract."
She abruptly stopped her belated healing, and stared the wolf in the eye. Green clashing with blue.
"W-what? I'm a wreck. I can't take care of you-"
"You won't have to. Just seal us, hide us. I don't want to live through this anymore."
Sakura's eyes traveled downcast, negative thoughts plaguing her mind.
'Oh, how many times I've said that...'
"I'll..I'll hide you. Just promise to be with me, alright? I'm not sure how this'll play out..."
Sakura didn't know if the wolf caught the undertone, that she wasn't talking about their situation, but the war.
"Of course. What is your name, Miss?"
She let her cracked lips form into a small smile, then dropped her muscles once more.
"Sakura Haruno. You are?"
"Nanami. And my son here is Nami. We'll be in your service."
Sakura pulled out the tattered sealing Scroll, that hopefully still works, and laid it onto the ground, she opened it up quietly and let her blood from a recent cut drop onto the yellowed paper, and wiped a bit of her new summons' onto the scroll, and they soon disappeared with a quiet poof.
As the smoke wafted away, Sakura let an empathy-filled tear escape her eye.
Maybe she can at least save them.
—Restart—
"here on out"
Sakura was finished applying the last bandage to her blonde teammates whiskered cheeks, silently fuming that she couldn't heal them and get it over with, when a thought occurred to her.
'How long exactly am I going to be here?'
'Mm, you didn't bring anything that can send you back, did you?'
'Ah, no.'
'You'll be here forever then. Why would you want to go back anyway? We're here to stay.'
Once again the weight of the pinkette' mission crashed onto her shoulders and it was a bit harder to throw off as she realized just how long a time-frame this will be.
'Ah, come on! How many more of these D-Ranks before Wave? I've been keeping track and Naruto looks like he's ready to burst! Get it over with already!'
"You feeling better Naruto?" She asked in a motherly tone. Kakashi and Sasuke were standing behind her, the latter almost condescendingly as she was on her knees putting the plaster onto their teammates injuries. It was another mission to grab Tora, and Naruto went off on his own again to grab the demon cat.
She wishes she was more grateful as a child, because these D-Ranks were a great breather and allowed her to rest her weary mind. Though the setback was they were mind-numbing.
The fact that she had made almost no progress keeps grating on her conscious, and she almost wants to just scream. But that would be out of character. Combined with the voice in her head's occasional comments, she wanted a quick break.
Soon, they will have the Wave Mission.
Soon, they will have the Chūnin Exams.
Those were rather big points in their childhood, and she must change it for the better.
But Sasuke isn't making it very easy.
"You guys ready to go and report to the Hokage?" Kakashi-sensei drawled lazily.
Sakura pushed off the ground and brushed off the excess dirt on her knees. She turned to Naruto and offered a hand and a silent smile.
He grinned back and she pulled him up easily, even though she hasn't trained yet. "Thanks Sakura-Chan!" she gave him a thumbs up. "Not a problem!"
"Maa, maa, lets get going."
They walked in a comfortable silence towards the Hokage Tower. Well, at least Sakura and Kakashi did. The boys started another petty argument and Sakura unconsciously tuned them out, as she as learned to do over the years.
Their feet clacked against the gravel in the village of Konohagakure, and Sakura allowed herself a moment of relaxation. The wind blew her hair back and forth and the pinkette relished in the feeling. She let her guard down for the moment, wanting to enjoy it while it lasts. They were soon climbing the stairs, the familiar yet foreign stairs, in the Hokage Tower.
Kakashi knocked respectfully, and waited for the 'Come In' before entering with his team in tow.
"Team Seven, here to report."
The old Kage looked glad to see them as a smile appeared on his wrinkled face. "Yes, of course. I assume it went without a hitch."
"Not including the few screw-ups due to Naruto and Sasuke," insert scowl and indignant yell here, " yes, without a hitch."
The Sandaime laughed heartily, clearly enjoying the small break from the mounds of paperwork.
Sakura smiled as she felt Naruto's chakra signature become agitated. Looks like today was the day. Thank Kami.
"Hmm, what other jobs can I get for you? There's weeding a garden, babysitting,-"
"NO! NO! NO! NUH-UH! NO THANK YOU! I WANT A REAL MISSION!"
"Hm?"
"I DONT WANT TO DO JOBS FOR THESE LAZY CIVILIANS ANYMORE! IM A NINJA! AND I WANT A NINJA MISSION!"
Iruka-sensei, who everyone had disregarded until now, shot out of his chair and grabbed the boisterous blonde by the ear. "YOU IDIOT! SHOW SOME RESPECT! YOU'RE JUST A GREEN GENIN!"
"IM NOT JUST A LITTLE KID THROWING PRANKS ANYMORE! I'M MATURE! ITAI, THAT HUURTS!"
Iruka let him go roughly and she stared on, secretly blankfaced but put on a mask of concern.
"You're mature, eh...okay, I'll get you a C-Rank out of the village."
All heads snapped towards their leader, surprised he actually listened to the troublemaker. While everyone knew he had a soft spot of Naruto this was ridiculous.
"With all due respect, Hokage-Sama...are you sure about this?" inquired Kakashi nervously. He didn't know exactly what was going through the old Hokage's head.
"I hear your concerns loud and clear, but I am sure about this. Hopefully they get a taste of what being a ninja is all about. You all have an escort mission to the Land of Waves."
'YES.'
'YES.'
"Ooh! Who is it, who is it? A feudal lord, a princess?!"
'You're in for QUITE the surprise, Naruto..'
"Send them in."
Sakura held her breath for a rough, tipsy old man to walk through those doors, but what she saw made her heart momentarily stop beating, yet she could hear her pulse in her ears. She tried to even out her breathing and keep her eyes steady, but they would just not focus on exactly what she was seeing.
'N-no way..changes are already being made? So quickly? Was it the bell test?'
A tall woman, with bluish purplish hair flowing around her, in a pink shirt with a red collar and hem, and in a long navy blue skirt, walked out of the waiting room with a friendly smile on her tanned face.
Tsunami.
Instead of Tazuna.
Tsunami came instead of Tazuna.
Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the woman. What would happen now? This was a relatively large change in the way the timeline was supposed to play out.
Would the Demon Brothers still come after them?
What about Zabuza? He can't be that easy to fool.
What about the entire mission? Oh my god..
"Hello! I'm Tsunami, a super bridge builder. I need you to help me get to the Land of Waves to finish the bridge safely. A few bandits here and there, but nothing you guys shouldn't be able to handle!" She gave them yet another smile and she along with Naruto smiled back. Tazuna would've insulted him and he would be lunged at the ACTUAL bridge builder.
Though it makes sense, to send someone to play the target while the real victim was safe at home.
But was the lady actually lying? At this point Sakura couldn't be sure..
As long as their soon to be enemies don't have a clue, then everything should work out fine.
Just fine.
The pinkette inaudibly breathed a sigh of relief, keeping her face straight as she listened to the mission details.
She sat cross-legged on her bed, thinking over the new information she was just given.
Tsunami has taken Tazuna's place, and by how everything else played out nobody knows a thing and neither should the bandits.
'How exactly should I go through this? I'm using this situation to 'open my eyes', and then I'll be free to train. Though most of my training in public will be with various sensei's, my training in private will have to wait till I can find a suitable playground.'
Okay...okay! Her thoughts were arranged, and now she's at peace. Time to pack.
She slid her feet out from under her and hit the floor with a low thump. She began periodically ruffling through her drawers and her closet, picking out a few things and stuffing them into her backpack.
'This is my first big change in the timeline..hopefully it all works out in the end..'
'Hmm...how would you describe your future behavior during this mission?'
'Shocked most of the time, frozen in place and useless when I can be, grief-stricken. Hopefully contemplative all the way back to Konoha to seal the deal. Remember, I'm using this as an eye-opener. '
Sakura threw in a small med-kit for fun as she zipped the backpack securely and slung it over he shoulders. She slid her feet into her Ninja sandals before hearing a familiar voice echo through the halls.
"S-Sakura, you have a mission?"
Her eyes widened partially at the sound of her long-deceased mother's voice once again. She remembered how she beat herself up over the death that was completely her fault, and felt her lungs contract as her train of thought went that way.
She decided to save a comrade instead of her own mother. A comrade that didn't even last the night, while her mother was healthy.
She was such a fool.
And she never really was that close with her mother, as she never supported the idea of her becoming a kunoichi, even less since it was for a boy.
They fell out, and Sakura classified that as one of her biggest mistakes.
Even so, some things need to be sacrificed for the mission. Hopefully she'll find time to reacquaint herself with her mother.
She gave her a large smile, and watched as her forehead crinkled with worry as she fought to stop the tears the pinkette could see shimmering in her motherly eyes.
"Yup! And I'm going to come back safe and sound!"
"Ah...be safe."
She plastered on a grin, pretending to be stupid for her own sake, and stomped out the door.
'The world is more important than a forgotten relationship.'
She was met with the sight of an all-out brawl with the two younger boys of Team Seven, Tazuna and surprisingly Kakashi watching nervously. She called out to them hurriedly and everything stopped as the boys quickly unlatched themselves, why she didn't know.
'Kakashi-sempai always said we were the glue that held this dysfunctional team together.'
'I didn't think he was this serious about it, though. '
By the time she reached the team it looked as if they were just standing there quietly the whole time, and she would have thought that had she not witnessed the previous scuffle.
"You're late." stated Sasuke stoically. She glanced at him shrewdly, wondering what exactly she saw in him.
'This isn't our Sasuke, you'd do well to remember that. With this second chance, we could fall in love all over again.'
'W-WHAT! I'm like 8 years older than him!?'
'Not. Anymore. Keep that mindset; it'll do you good in future escapades.'
'I see you still haven't gotten over Sasuke.'
'Well, I'm just a manifestation of your bottled up feelings; you haven't either. For good reason, he needs you. Just..be there for him, before you screw up your mission in the process of ignoring him.'
'Hmph.'
'He is a key point in the events in the future, better keep him on a leash.'
Sakura hadn't realized that her conversation with Inner Sakura was becoming rather long and drawn out, leaving her to stare at Sasuke with glazed over eyes after what was a rather pointed glare.
She could see his discomfort and soon broke the gaze, turning on her heels and began walking out of the village. She heard Naruto scramble after her and felt Sasuke's intense stare on her back.
The Wave Mission is starting.
No room for discomfort.
END OF CHAPTER 4
Mm, I decided to leave you guys hanging in this chapter. Aren't I the best? A bit short but it's fine. Anyway without a doubt I will be starting the Wave Arc in the next chapter, just let me get my thoughts together. If you haven't already noticed I try to update at least once a week, this story if not anything else at least.