Author's Note: It's been a long while since I last updated and for that I apologize. With the pandemic and finishing my thesis, I just couldn't focus on writing. I'll also be increasing the length of the chapters!

Her body sways lightly in movement as the bus drives over a speed bump. Even though her green eyes are fixed upon the tall figure of the Academic Decathlon Team captain, they burn to glance over the wavy brown locks in front of her. Sakura didn't even know it was possible to stare through your peripheral vision.

His hair is gelled back, as usual. Sakura knows how curly it actually was in its natural state, which she prefers. For not the first time, she wonders how it would feel like to run her fingers through his hair.

She blinks when her eyes go dry, clearing her throat. Damn hormones.

"What is a small proteinaceous infectious disease-causing agent that—?"

Her hand rings her bell, and she chirps the answer, "Prion!"

Sakura pretends not to beam when Peter turns to her with a smile soon after he answers a question correctly. MJ likewise pretends she's not sketching the face Sakura makes when Liz captures his attention once again, in her Crisis Notebook which she hides behind a book to avoid Liz's ire. This does not escape Sakura's notice, however, and she receives a pointed glare.

Ignoring her friend's sniggers, Sakura looks up when Peter stands and moves to the back of the bus where Ned is situated. She swears she doesn't mean to, but chakra flows to her ears and enhances her hearing.

"Hello?" Peter greets to his phone. He mumbles something about a tracker. "Uh—yeah, no, it's just a school trip. It's nothing."

Figuring it was just his Aunt calling to check up on him, she plugs in her red earphones to the voice of Freddie Mercury. She leans over MJ to look out the window as they cross Arlington Memorial Bridge, and then to the windows on the other side of the bus to gaze at the Washington Monument.

The differences between the civilizations in her two sets of memories were becoming easier to sort through, but it still feels like she's in the middle of an identity crisis. Still, she has finally accepted her situation.

Sakura wonders if time is at a standstill in her other reality. (She remembers Peter rambling about the possibilities of a multiverse.) Is it possible that she is one of two selves, or just one self alternating between realities?

Whichever it is, she knows that it would be best to start seriously training as soon as possible.

So far, all she has been able to do is establish that her perfect chakra control has followed her. However, her body in this reality is… less than satisfactory. Her muscles have improved since she first woke up, but a few weeks were not comparable to the years she spent in her other reality. Assuming she would be staying permanently, because she didn't really know how to get back, then she figures she could work her body and endurance up to her standards. She has all the time in the world.

One curious thing is that she can't remember what happened to her in the other reality before she woke up.

Sakura has considered the possibility of a genjutsu, but she has no recollection of one that could conjure fake memories while retaining the real ones.

She's way in over her head, that's for sure.

Not to mention academics has her scrambling to make time for training.

Another frequent distraction for her is currently having a vehement whisper-conversation with his best friend at the back of the bus. An adorable yet confusing distraction. (She never thought she would have feelings for anyone after Sa—)

She is brought out of her reverie when the bus stops in front of a building. There is a bright blue banner with "United States Academic Decathlon" printed on it. The team disembarks and brings their belongings with them inside. She makes sure to smooth any wrinkles out of her jacket before entering.

The building looks bigger inside. When Peter and Ned walk in front of her, she is stricken by a dark, pulsating energy. She glances at them in suspicion as they walk toward a booth to register themselves.

"Everyone, stick together!" Liz reminds them. Mr. Harrington mumbles an agreement.

Someone remarks about the size of the building, and Sakura finds herself nodding as she looks around. Groups of students in varying uniforms walk around. She feels a touch of nerve at the sight of the competition.

Paired with MJ, they break away from the rest when they get to their room. Inside is a room with two beds and a nice neutral color palette. There are framed photographs of birds for some reason.

MJ throws down her book on the bed closest to the door. "Mine," she says.

Sakura rolls her eyes in fondness. She jumps on the bed and spreads her limbs like a starfish. Sleep would've welcomed her if not for her friend's sudden weight. "Oof!"

Squealing, she wrapped her arms around MJ and rolled them over. Her hands immediately went to tickle the usually stoic girl.

MJ's cheeks nearly hurt from containing her laughter. "Stop moping about that loser!"

"I am not moping about Peter!" Sakura denies. When she sees MJ's smirk, she realizes that she just outed herself. "Ugh, shut up. My mind is already jumbled enough without adding him into the equation."

"And any equation with him is unsolvable?" MJ inquires teasingly.

Sakura sighs and flops back on her bed. She mumbles, "More like I don't want to solve him."

MJ rolls her eyes and sits up on her own bed, cracking open her notebook. "Don't move. Your expression perfectly captures your misery."

Screwing up her face, Sakura throws a hand over her broad forehead. It's silent for a beat as she considers something. Then, "I have… something to tell you."

"Oh? Did you remember something?"

She shifts slightly, facing her curious friend. "Kinda. Yes. Well, I'm not exactly sure if it's real."

"Interesting. Continue."

"I know that aliens and gods exist, and that's pretty unbelievable. But the fact that it's happening to me is hard to grasp."

MJ hums. "Let me guess, you're actually a talking snowman?"

"Good guess, but no." Sakura lets out a deep breath. "I think… no, I know that I'm a ninja. Although shinobi or kunoichi would be better terms."

"Okay," her friend says. "You're a ninja."

Sakura looks at her in disbelief, wondering if she is being patronizing. She stands up and faces the wall. "I can prove it!"

"I believe you," MJ tells her. Sakura trusts her, but doesn't know if this is true, so she presses the sole of her foot to the wall. MJ is lowkey looking at her like she's crazy, but then she sticks her other foot as well.

Eyebrows up high, MJ watches as Sakura walks on the wall, then hangs upside down from the ceiling. It was similar to Spider-Man's ability to crawl on any surface. It was cool, but… "How does that make you a ninja, though? You're just like that Spider-Dude."

Sakura pauses. "Fair enough." She jumps down into a crouching position. "Should've known that wouldn't be enough to convince you. It's the only thing I know for sure I can do, since I only started believing in the alternate reality theory this morning."

"Maybe I should list down what I remember I can do," she mumbles, tapping a finger on her chin.

Pointing with her thumb to the blinking digital clock on their nightstand, MJ says, "We've got about an hour and a half until dinner. Better get started."

The former pinkette ties her hair up and whips out a fresh, new notebook.

Sakura lists down what abilities she remembers having. She puts a tick mark next to the lone thing that she has successfully attempted.

Perfect chakra control. Check. While she's able to walk on solid surfaces, she had not tested it on any body of liquid yet. There is a swimming pool in Midtown Tech, but there is nary a moment when she could be alone to attempt it. This control should allow her to successfully cast all of the basic E-rank and D-rank jutsu such as henge, kawarimi, bunshin, rope escape, cloak of invisibility, and so on, although she hasn't been able to try them out yet.

Shadow clones. She can't hold one for more than twelve hours, and creating more than one is a bit tricky for her as she's no Naruto. Best she can do is five, but not for very long. She'll have to attempt it soon, as shadow clones would be useful for training and studying.

Mystic palm technique. She could start out with small cuts and bruises, maybe on her headaches too. Until she's sure of her skill, she's not able to inflict bigger wounds on herself to heal, as they would be trickier. She would have to make do with fish, just as she had when Tsunade first started training her. (Note to self: buy a fish. And an aquarium.)

Chakra scalpel. Sakura didn't frequently use this in battle, preferring to use it in operations, but it does work for offensive attacks.

Chakra-enhanced strength. Although successful in coating chakra around her fists and legs – ears and nose as well, but that was to enhance her senses – she hasn't found anywhere to try out her strength, knowing it would most likely cause infrastructural damage.

Poison extraction. Not exactly something she could test out at the moment. She does like having poison-coated weapons, but she doesn't have access to neither poison nor any weapons. She'll worry about that later.

Summoning. Haven't tried it yet due to her doubt in it actually working. If it did work, then Tsunade would've already had her reverse summoned. Not much hope for this one.

Taijutsu. She didn't really have a specific style due to her civilian upbringing. It's more like an amalgamation of the academy katas and various moves she's picked up from friends. She'll have to work on her muscles first.

"That's all I can remember for now." Sakura sighs.

MJ's expectant look prompts her to bring her hands up to a familiar position. Although it is the first time to attempt it, a clone of herself pops up next to her. A second later, a shadow clone appears on her other side.

Astonished, MJ waves her hand to clear the smoke. "Are they tangible?" She goes to poke the one on the right, but it passes through. She does the same to the other, except it makes contact. "I thought ninjas were supposed to wear black and wield katanas."

Sakura replaces herself with MJ, who stumbles when she finds herself between two fake Sakuras instead of in front. "Well, you can if you want."

"I can run really fast," Sakura offers, "but there really isn't any space in here for that."

MJ looks like she believes her anyway, after such displays of breaking the laws of physics.

"Are you telling me a coma gave you these abilities?"

"No. Yes. Um, kinda?"

The self-proclaimed ninja/shinobi/kunoichi dispels her clones. The memories of the shadow clone come back to her. "It's like the coma allowed me to journey between two realities."

MJ's face looks like it could fit right in her Crisis Notebook. "What?!"

"I know it sounds weird, but it's like both souls of mine merged or something."

"What, like Harry Potter and Voldemort?"

"No, of course not! That's completely different! I'd say more like, like—" She scrambles for an appropriate reference. "Garnet from Steven Universe, only not a fusion by physical form. It's gotta be real because how else would I have done what I just did?"

Pulling Sakura's flailing arms down, MJ tries to make sense of everything. "If both souls from both realities are stuck in one body and one reality, what about the other one?"

"I don't know!" Sakura shrugs helplessly. "Maybe it's in a coma?"

"What's the other reality like?" Her friend asks her, sitting down.

"Children who want to become shinobi or kunoichi have to enroll for the Academy. Most graduate at twelve years old, like me. From thereon, you become a genin and are placed in a three-man cell led by a jonin. You can get paid through mission assignments, which can range from capturing a cat to assassinating a noble. The rankings in order are: genin, chunin, and jonin. There are other special rankings, but these are the main ones. I was a chunin before I woke up. My most recent memories from the other reality are a bit hazy for me."

"Assassination? You've killed?" MJ doesn't know what to make of this.

"That reality had different societal norms!" Sakura defends herself. "I haven't killed anyone here yet."

Eyes bugging out at the 'yet,' MJ raises her hands as if requesting for a timeout. "Woah, woah."

"I'm not gonna kill anyone." Sakura groans.

Just then, a series of knocks interrupt their conversation. They exchange a look before one of them opens the door. Mr. Harrington announces that it's time for dinner, and both girls join the rest of the team. Sakura's eyes instinctively flicker over to where Peter is, and her feet follow.

Their eyes meet and they awkwardly smile at each other. Ned and MJ roll their eyes at the duo.

The cafeteria of the building is far better than the one in Midtown Tech. It's buffet style, for one, and everything is free. Everyone gathers their meals of choice and sits together. Sakura finds herself sitting next to the object of her reluctant affections.

Before anyone can dig in, Liz speaks. "I hope you guys don't study too hard tonight, because there is a thing such as too much studying. Don't stress out and just believe in yourself, guys."

Mr. Harrington nods, adding his two cents. "Yes, yes. No staying up late. Let's dig in!"

Everyone has their own conversations around the table as they eat, but Sakura keeps silent in favor of her food. Her metabolism has been increasing, and for that her portion size is noticeably larger. Peter's hand bumps into the bare skin of her elbow.

Blood rushes to her ears as her heartbeat skyrockets. She rubs her arms as goosebumps appear.

"You cold?" Peter whispers to her, leaning ever so slightly to lend his body heat.

She shoots him a small smile. "I'm fine," she squeaks.

He returns it with a smile of his own, before biting into his pizza. "Sorry about the other night. I got held up by the—"

"—the Stark internship," Sakura finishes for him. "Yeah, it's cool. Don't worry about it. I had to catch up in time for the Decathlon anyway."

"I'll make it up to you."

That's what you said last time.

"I'm glad your memories have returned," Peter says softly. "I also noticed you're wearing some cool socks."

She glances down at the stretched face of Shrek peeking over her shoes. "Only the coolest wear them."

Peter hikes up his jeans to show her his socks which depict an image of Donkey. Somehow, this makes her heart flutter. Despite her earlier frustrations over him, they share a grin.

"So." She tucks her hair behind an ear. "Ready for tomorrow?"

"I was born ready," he replies in mock smugness. "Ask me anything."

Sakura hides a smile behind her cup of water. "What are the first one hundred digits of pi?"

The boy in a blue hoodie scoffs. "That's not even a challenge. Give me something harder."

Do you have a date for Homecoming?

Shaking her head, she turns back to her meal. "You heard Liz," the girl you like, "no studying too hard."

They drift off to another topic, but soon they've turned to other conversation partners. Sakura wonders if Peter is affected as much as she is by their proximity.

Later, they all return to their rooms to rest. Sakura sees a small bruise on MJ's forearm. With her hand, Sakura emits green chakra over it which soon fades the bruise away.

MJ has since calmed from her astonishment earlier. Raising an eyebrow, she quips in an unimpressed tone, "Thanks. Not just for the healing thing. For trusting me."

"Of course I trust you. You're my confidant! You're the only one I've told."

"Let's say your full abilities return," MJ starts. "What do you plan to do with them."

Sakura pulls out numerous stacks of colorful flashcards from her bag. "Might as well do some good with them. What's the use of having them if you don't use them, right? I figure if anything like the Chitauri Invasion happens again, I can help any civilians caught in the cross-fire."

MJ hums in approval. "No plans to assassinate me?"

"Trust me, MJ, I'm as conflicted as you are about that. I'm like the freaking Winter Soldier! I can't control what I did in the past because technically that wasn't me, just a version of me."

"A version of you who is now one half of who you currently are."

Well, MJ's not wrong. Sakura offers a stack of flashcards to her.

"Look, I promise I'm not a murderer. Other me even had to go through a mandatory therapy session after my first kill," she explains. "It was my job! Once you graduate from the Academy, you become an adult. Well, in the other reality at least."

MJ takes the flashcards and flips through them. "I'm not judging you or anything, you're still you, I just can't imagine actually killing someone."

"It's not like we do it because we enjoy it, you know. It's kill or be killed. We're soldiers serving our country. When you see a veteran you thank them for their service, not condemn them for putting their people's lives above the enemies'."

Nodding in thought, the taller girl surrenders. "You've got a point."

"Besides, I was an iryo-nin. A medic ninja," she clarifies. "We prioritize healing."

"Can you heal mental illnesses with your glowy hands?"

"Unfortunately, no. Those are a bit delicate, so we have specialists for that."

The conversation drops after that, and they focus on their respective flashcards in a comfortable silence. Sakura is in the middle of a yawn when someone knocks on their door. Not even waiting for the door to open, the voice of their captain says, "Team bonding time! Wear a swimsuit; we're going for a swim. Meet up in five minutes!"

"Sounds like fun!" Sakura shouts to the door. She directs a questioning look to MJ. "You feel up for it?"

MJ shrugs, hopping off the bed and stretching. "Sure, why not?"

Must be why we were required to bring swimsuits, Sakura muses to herself as they change. She had debated with herself whether or not to bring one, and ended up throwing a red halter top one-piece with front ruching at the last minute.

She and MJ find fluffy white towels in the closet. They drape it over their shoulders and head out, turning the lights off as they go.

The rest are already ahead of them, running excitedly to the elevators. They elect to take their time, chatting idly.

Sakura turns quiet when she sees Peter, with his hood up, gazing after Liz. She smiles when MJ nudges her, a silent Are you okay?

She waves as Peter finally turns around, but he stops dead in his tracks when he catches sight of her. His mouth is slightly agape, while his doe brown eyes widen.

Flustered, Sakura doesn't even notice the smirk MJ directs at the two of them. The trajectory of his eyes leaves a trail of fire on her body. Their eyes finally lock.

Peter gulps, bringing down his hood to ruffle his hair. He fumbles over words for a second. "Beautiful, you—wow." His voice is a near whisper, but she hears it almost as if he whispered it directly to her ear. "H-Hey, guys."

Positive that MJ will tease her later for this, she thanks him nervously. Then, "Will you and Ned be joining us?"

"Oh, no. Ned wanted to catch a few extra hours of shut-eye," he says with a shake of his head. His eyes never strays from hers. "I'm just gonna walk around for a while, get some fresh air. Yeah."

Sakura can't explain how, but she knows he's lying. Maybe it's the way he grips tightly at the strap of his backpack, or the way he shifts his weight to and from each leg. His energy feels uneasy.

She nods anyway. It was probably about that internship of his; he always acted weird about it.

"See you tomorrow then." She and MJ start to move again. "Take care."

Peter's eyes follow her as they leave. He takes a deep breath and turns to the opposite direction. He runs toward a door that reads 'FIRE ESCAPE' and quickly strips down to his boxers. The cold air only greets him for a moment before he puts on his suit, then he's off.

Well, he's supposed to be off.

His enhanced hearing picks up the sounds of laughter and the splashing of water. Despite his duties, his feet carry him to a glass roof that overlooks his teammates at the pool.

The first thing that captures his attention is the bright red of Sakura's swimsuit. He notes that her hair is once again tied up, revealing the creamy expanse of her neck and shoulders. Her smile is radiant as she flicks water at MJ, who is trying to ignore her.

His gaze shifts to another girl. Liz sits at the edge of the pool, with a pleased expression as everyone seems to be having fun. He feels guilty to not be a part of it, and for dragging Ned away from a night of enjoyment.

He stands up and puts his mask on.