Sakura remembered a bright flash of light, a tingling sensation that engulfed her whole body in terrible discomfort, and then – darkness.
Coming to her senses, she slowly opened her eyes and was greeted with a bright stream of sunlight right in the face. "Ah not the sun," she moaned, pulling bed covers over her body to shield herself.
That's when she noticed something was off. Her voice! It sounded so much younger, like she was still a child. Scrambling to pull the sheets off of her, she quickly jumped out of her bed and ran to look in the mirror.
But the mirror wasn't there. Well where could it possibly be then. Her vision still fuzzy, she glanced around the room, noticing many items were missing. Her big wooden desk her dad had made her when she was only ten was gone. The collection of weapons she had collected over the years was not there.
Neither were the medicinal books she always kept in her room.
Instead, the room she now stood in belonged to a little girl. The walls were pink and the huge bed situated in the center of the room was filled with an assorted number of stuffed animals and plushies.
On the walls were shelves which all contained childish toys or books. Walking over to one of them, she pulled 'Introduction to Standard Ninja Weapons,' off the shelf and began flipping through the pages. On page 13 was a very detailed diagram on how to correctly throw a kunai knife. In the margins were tons of little hints such as when to use a kunai knife or how to never miss a target. Closing the book, she realized this was a book she read back when she had first attended the ninja academy. She must have been only six or seven at the time. She couldn't recall who the teacher who assigned the book had been though. Their class had gone through a lot of teachers but she couldn't remember why.
And that's when it hit her. Olivier. The deal. Kakashi dying in her arms. Lee crying. Naruto dead. Sasuke apologizing before collapsing to the ground and also dying.
Before she could think about this frightening discovery, a tall woman with spiky blonde hair entered the room.
"Sakura? Are you up yet? I was just coming to-"
Her words were lost when Sakura let out a huge gasp and tackled her mother in a loving embrace. She held on tightly, not wanting to let her mother go.
The last time she saw her mother was just before she headed off to war.
Konohamaru and the younger ninjas, appointed leaders of the village by Tsunade herself, had been given the duty of protecting the citizens of the village while the older shinobi left to fight. But Sakura had no idea if anyone had attacked their village while they were gone.
But none of that mattered now because her mother was alive and well! Smiling to herself, she realized Olivier had really done it. He sent her back in time which meant she was only seven now. Plenty of time to change everything.
"Sakura whats wrong? What the heck are you crying for?" her mother asked.
It was true. Tears were still streaming down Sakura's face. But now it was mostly out of happiness at the fact that everyone she was knew was still alive and they weren't currently at war.
Looking up at her mom Sakura smiled, "I had a bad dream but it's okay now! Is Dad home?"
"Actually he went to work early this morning, but he wished you good luck today and that he's very proud of you! As am I. You better kick the other students asses and show them what women can do!" her mother exclaimed, eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Mom!" Sakura groaned, slumping over in her bed. Wait a minute. She snapped her head back up. "Proud? Why? What's today?" Sakura asked puzzled.
"Are you feeling alright kiddo? Don't you remember attending the Academy enrollment ceremony yesterday? Today's the first day of classes! You'd better hope you make lots of friends! Hah. Don't be like me. I just scared everyone off."
First day of classes? Sakura's heart leapt with joy. This meant she would get to see Naruto and Sasuke again! As well as the rest of the rookie nine. And much sooner than she expected. She was so excited her mother assumed Sakura had calmed down and was back to normal again.
Before leaving the room her mother paused and said, "Get dressed Sakura! Class starts soon!"
Grabbing a blue shirt and yellow pants out of her closet Sakura said to herself, "Alright, time to befriend Naruto and Sasuke and prevent Itachi from slaughtering his clan. Well..." she hesitated fora second. "I'm not sure how...but I will think of something."
Leaving out that ridiculous red ribbon she used to wear in her hair, she walked out her front door determined to change the future.
It was a beautiful sunny morning as she walked through the streets of Konoha. Seeing familiar places and faces again, she never realized how much she truly loved the village.
Absorbed in how wonderful it was to see Konoha not under attack, Sakura wasn't paying attention and walked right into someone.
Knocked to the ground by the stranger's sheer size, Sakura rubbed her forehead and muttered, "Sorry."
Looking up into the person's face, her eyes gleamed with surprise and she jumped up in delight.
"Jiraiya!" she shouted with happiness. Losing herself for a moment, she hugged him around his waist not caring that he was the pervy old man she used to berate whenever they crossed paths. Especially since they always seemed to run into each other during one of his "research" missions.
"Can I help you?" The sannin asked, eyebrows raised, completely shocked that some little girl he had never met was clinging on to him tightly.
"Uh," Sakura stuttered, unsure of what to say. How do you explain to someone that they died in the future and you're overjoyed to see them alive again? "I uh...I just know that you're one of the legendary Sannins and wanted to tell you I highly respect that and one day I want to grow as powerful as you."
Sakura mentally kicked herself. Did her generation even know who the sannins were at this tender age of seven? She needed to think before she spoke. Usually she did. It almost seemed like she really was reverting back to her younger self. Her younger, brash self that used to get her in trouble with her parents all the time.
But to her surprise Jiraiya laughed heartily. "Have you started at the ninja academy yet?"
Sakura shook her head. "Today's my first day. But I've been practicing ninjutsu already." It wasn't technically a lie she supposed. Sakura knew and had practiced highly advanced ninjustu when she had her older body. She highly doubted she'd still be able to perform that ninjustu in a young body such as this one, but even if she could everyone would think of her as a child prodigy and she didn't want that. She couldn't let herself stand out.
She needed to be careful.
"Have you now? Well, I like your determination. You remind me of a student I once taught... and I'd sure like to see how your ninjutsu is coming along. But I must be off for the time being. I have plenty of research to do." He winked.
Sakura grimaced. Same old Jiraiya.
"Perhaps I could give you some pointers one day..." His voice trailed off because he didn't know her name.
Understanding at once why he paused she said, "I'm Sakura." She didn't know what to say to that though. He had been Naruto's sensei - not hers. She felt like it was wrong to even consider it but she had an idea.
"Thank you for your offer but I'm not sure if it would do any good because I'm interested in medical ninjutsu. But I have a friend who would probably love to take you up on your proposal!"
"Who's that?"
"Naruto Uzumaki! I have to go now though but I hope you'll consider meeting him one day. I can tell he'll be a powerful ninja one day. I'm pretty good at sensing chakra already. He just needs some help getting there." Waving, she left and hurried of to get to class on time. She knew she had just lied - she and Naruto weren't even friends yet, but if she could introduce them sooner than she believed it would change Naruto's life for the better.
Jiraiya stood there, not really understanding what just happened. There was something different about this girl and he liked it. He hadn't really wanted to take on any pupils since Yahiko, Nagato and Konan, but he was starting to reconsider. Besides, he still hadn't taught the child of prophecy according to the toad sage.
And Naruto Uzumaki? Minato's son. Well, he was his appointed godfather after all. It was only natural he'd one day teach him everything he knew. Unfortunately, he was only back in the village for a couple days and was supposed to be leaving for a mission that could take years, but perhaps he could stick around to formally meet Naruto before he set off on his journey.