Chapter Four


Sakura helped the night to split its seams.

She didn't sleep that evening, or rather she couldn't because she was in foreign territory and couldn't decide whether or not she was trapped in an elaborate jutsu or if she really was in another dimension.

Rather than sleep, her night was spent extending her senses so she could really get a feel for the place she was staying in. The homes here, she noted as she gazed down the street through her window, were unlike the ones back in Konoha that she and her peers lived in. It seemed that though both groups of people recognized the innate need for shelter and a place to store items and other personal possessions, the similarities ended there. The homes in Konoha were sturdy and were constructed from quality building material; these ones, or at least this one in particular had no such characteristics. There was a hole in the wall where Sakura applied pressure to test its strength and found the material to be quite weak. Or maybe I'm just too strong? she thought.

Nevertheless, Sakura continued to survey the quaint little home. The house was mostly empty, and she would have almost assumed that no one had ever lived in the house save for the fine layer of dust coating the wooden floor boards and the obvious furniture imprints marking their former locations. The floors were wooden and unpolished, and if you looked closely you could see tiny splinters in the crevices where one wooden board ended and another started. With each step she took, the floors responded in kind with a heady creak, indicating to Sakura that the home had been around for quite a while.

The kitchen was nothing special; the countertops were wooden and worn just like the flooring, and the sink, made of metal, was as dull, grey, and worn as the rest of the house. Sakura turned the faucet on and watched as the sink head chugged to life. In the first few seconds, no water came out, but as she waited a little bit the water began to flow. She couldn't drink it though, as the water had a dark brown tint to it.

Curiosity satiated, Sakura headed back to the room she arrived in to sit and conduct an inventory of the items she brought with her to this new world.


By daybreak Sakura had already packed her possessions and cast a henge over her person to disguise her hair. Casting a henge over her clothing was a little bit more chakra intensive than casting one over her hair, and since she didn't know what or where this place was, she could not estimate how quickly her reserves would replenish or how nourishing the local food was. And if I thought that pink hair was rare in Konoha, then imagine the chances of encountering someone with hair like me here? Besides, even if I disguise my hair, someone will recognize this jōnin uniform. Disguising her hair made it less possible that someone would recognize her. Being the highly accomplished apprentice of one of the world's most powerful kunoichi really killed her chance of being inconspicuous anywhere.

As she exited the home through the window to climb onto the roof, she noted that the streets were completely dark, and so were the homes and closed marketshops that lined them. Only a few homes contained the soft glow of candle light, and she guessed that there were people preparing to leave for their jobs this early in the morning. Since the streets were completely dark and the citizens of this new place weren't awake yet, she had plenty of time to study the layout of the street to better familiarize herself with her surroundings and to aid her in searching for clues to help her in her situation.

Landing in the street with a grace only a ninja could muster, Sakura turned towards the marketplace and walked down the cobblestoned pathway, perusing the different closed shops that lined path. Each shop was situated with their windows facing outwards so that buyers could easily see the kind of merchandise that was being sold without having to come too close.

A soft glow of light up ahead caught Sakura's eye, and as she drew closer she saw that the lamp illuminated the face of a ragged-looking man setting up shop. He looked to be in his late forties, and the condition of his clothes indicated to her that he was a working class citizen. Using her chakra detecting skills, she could tell that this man was an unskilled civilian and had no chakra detecting capabilities. The man was placing fresh produce and other food items on his market stand from the horse-drawn cart standing by his side.

Sakura stopped about fifty feet away from him, quietly suppressing her presence and watching him as he set up shop. The glow of the kerosene lamp was limited to the area around him, so unless he suddenly started to move in Sakura's direction, he wouldn't be able to see her.

One by one, the man placed crates of fresh vegetables on his market stand from the horse-drawn cart. Eggs came next, followed by more vegetables. It wasn't until he got to the crates of oranges and other fruits did he begin to stumble. The man had-with great effort-attempted to lift a crate full of oranges to place on his stand before they began to roll out of the crate. Sakura had appeared fast enough to prevent the delicious fruit from going to waste by placing the fallen oranges back on the crate, taking the crate full out of the man's hands and placing them where they were supposed to be. The shopkeeper let out a sheepish laugh while awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

"Thank you young lady." He said appreciatively to Sakura. Sakura, not understanding what was being said, surmised that he probably thanked her for her help. She simply nodded in response and gestured to the rest of the items in the horse-drawn cart as if to ask if he needed help with anything else. The man nodded his head in affirmation, and with that Sakura helped him unload the rest of his cart. She even ended up feeding his horse, who ended up growing attached to her. By the time Sakura had finished with this task, the sun had fully come out and dozens of other shopkeepers set up their shops in preparation for the rest of the day.

"Say young lady, you're oddly dressed today! I've never seen those clothes around here before. Where you from?" He asked, attempting to strike up conversation. Sakura only gave him a puzzled look.

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying to me." Sakura responded. The man was stunned as Sakura spoke, as if he couldn't believe his ears. To further emphasize, he stuck both of his pinky fingers in his ears in order to clean them out.

"What now?" The man asked again.

"I can't understand what you're saying, Ojii-san." Sakura responded again. The man was so surprised and shocked that he brought her to the shopkeeper next door to him and attempted to get her to speak again. When she did speak, the second shopkeeper shared in the same confusion as the first and rushed to tell the one next door to her. Sakura, feeling embarrassed and put on the spot, ran down the cobblestoned pathway and around a few corners until she was sure she was a safe distance away from the rambunctious vendors.

"Hey, it's the Survey Corps!"

Shabey koor-?

Sakura's attention was directed to the source of the words, as they sounded exactly like the first words she heard when she encountered the group of people in that desolate area prior. She moved towards the source of the sounds and found herself standing behind a crowd of people on the edge of a street.

"It's the Survey Corps! I wonder if my buddy John made it back? You know he always told me how he was one of the best titan slayers around!" A man in front of Sakura said to a guy standing next to him.

"Of course that's a lie. There's no one better than Levi Ackerman and his squad. Last I heard, John didn't even make it into the top twenty, during his Survey Corps training. If anything, he's really just free titan food." Upon saying this, the man imitated picking up something and eating it gruelishly. His friend was not amused.

"Hey," the first guy began "you take that back!" he finished, as he fisted the other guys shirt in his hand and attempted to punch him.

"Never!" The other shouted.

Sakura didn't want to stick around for what happened next, so she used this opportunity to push her way through the crowd so she could see what was happening on the main street. Once she got there, she was able to witness a large group of individuals wearing similar uniforms and riding horse-drawn carts. Their faces were extremely grave and their body language betrayed a sense of defeat as they deliberately avoided looking at the looker-ons.

She noticed that each person wore a green cape with an insignia on the back. The insignia, she noticed, consisted of a chevron with what looked to be a window and differently colored wings. They also wore an elaborate series of beltstraps around their bodies which allowed two rectangular metallic boxes to be suspended from their hips.

None of the insignia looked like they belong to any of the hidden villages. They also do not wear headbands. These observations further confirmed her suspicions that she no longer was in the ninja world.

As they walked by, Sakura took time to study each person's profile intently. She began profiling the members of the group as they passed by her. Judging by their battle equipment and use of horses, this is not a militia that is properly equipped for battle against other highly mobile enemies. Their footfalls are heavy and ungraceful, and their posture is horrid. Stealth is not something that is of importance. If this were Konoha, everyone here would be demoted to genin rank for poor ninja etiquette. Starting with the short guy with black hair in the front. As they passed by, Sakura didn't realize that she was staring at this guy a little too intently, as he turned to her and met her curious gaze with an unusually hostile glare. Sakura, startled by his unwarranted hostility, matched his glare with her own.


sorry for the year long hiatus. i figure that since i started this i should at least finish it.

thanks for reading, remember to R and R :)

-benedictine