Because what kind of writer hasn't done a time-travel story, amirite?
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Equilibrium
Once she regained consciousness, she had found herself in padded shackles, chained down to the thin hospital bed. Her eyes were bound once again in medical gauze, still dully throbbing. Tearing through the shackles should have been easy with her enhanced strength, but the cuffs simply would not give. Sakura struggled, hearing the metal clinks of her bounds and she attempted to wiggle out of the bed. Just barely keeping herself from panicking, the young jounin forced herself to relax, breathing in and out slowly – falling into the meditative state she had been taught by Tsunade-shishou so many years ago.
So she continued her heavy breathing, Sakura slowly reached her chakra out from its' tightly wound core throughout her body – from her fingertips to her toes. There was a substantially lower amount from what there should have been, she noticed immediately, attempting to channel the chakra back into her yin seal. The diamond shaped seal on her forehead, typically containing an ocean of chakra simply did not respond… almost like there was nothing there. She felt the edges of panic grasp her again, now struggling through her bounds. What was going on?
Attempting to spread her chakra, she began to dimly register the numerous familiar chakra signatures in her vicinity. Familiar, but not quite there. It was as if the signatures were the less developed forms of what they should have been. Iruka to her north-east, the kindly-old medic she had worked with for years slowly moving up the east ward. The cranky receptionist who would blow bubblegum but would bring Sakura coffee during long shifts. The quiet janitor who would always smile and then duck his head when she would walk by. The forever tired pediatrician up in pediatrics… Sakura's head snapped back up. Who had also been killed. Sakura tried to reason how a genjutsu could capture all the relatively unimportant details of her daily life life before she felt the Iruka-imposter begin moving towards her.
Sakura fell backwards onto her pillow, attempting to lower her breathing before she heard a knock and the quiet click of the door opening.
"Sakura-chan? How are you feeling?" came Iruka's soft voice, walking towards her as she felt his eyes roaming her prone figure.
"What's happening?" she croaked, her throat dry from the lack of moisture. He moved to the other side of the room, filling a paper cup with water before bringing it to her lips. She subtly took a precautionary sniff, checking for poison before taking a small sip. She let the water rest below her tongue for a second, continuing to check for poisons before deeming it acceptable and gulping down the rest of the water.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Iruka asked - surprised with a hint of steel, his kind tone disrupted by suspicion. Sakura furrowed her brow, still trying to figure out how the imposter managed to fake her dead sensei so well – from his personality to the intricacies of his chakra signature. Making a quick decision, Sakura decided to play along.
"What do you mean, Iruka-sensei? Why am I chained? What's going on?" Sakura groaned, sounding as innocent as she could.
Iruka sighed a tired sigh, moving to undo the straps of the restraints. His deft fingers easily untied her appendages, Sakura smiling and sitting up as she rubbed her sore wrists. "You were found in an abandoned base in the outskirts of Konoha. Do you have any idea of how you got there Sakura-chan?"
Sakura moved to undo the bandages covering her eyes as she thought wildly of some sort of explanation.
"I have no idea, sensei! I was just training last night and I guess I pushed a little too hard and fell asleep… And now I'm here. What happened to me?" She asked, perhaps milking the naïve girl act a bit too hard as she blinked, attempting to regain visual focus.
"Once we got you back to the hospital, you attacked your nurse! That's serious, you could get into a lot of trouble for that," Iruka said exasperatedly, eying the shackles and shaking his head.
Her eyes, although nearly burning from the effort, focused on the scarred face of her old sensei. Except he wasn't so old anymore. Sakura's eyes widened as she looked at the face of her maybe 20 year old sensei, a man who should rightfully be nearly his mid-30s. Sakura's eyes snapped downwards, gasping as she noticed her own limbs. She was in her 12 year old body.
"I know the scars look bad now Sakura-chan, but I promise, they'll fade soon! Beside, now you look like a real ninja" Iruka said, winking playfully as he assumed her shock was at burn scars covering her arms and legs. Sakura noticed them with a start, touching the scabbed skin lightly.
"Where did I get these? And my eyes" She asked confusedly, shutting her eyes as she attempted to recall where she received the burns.
"The medics say it's chakra burn. Do you remember seeing or feeling anything really bright or hot when you finished training?" He asked with concern, looking up at her expectantly. Sakura slowly opened her eyes again, feeling the throbbing from her eyes travel to the rest of her head as she winced. Without thinking, she brought her hand to her forehead, gently kneading her temples with medical chakra.
"Sakura, where'd you learn that?" Iruka said, louder and more alert. Sakura's back went straight, realizing her error immediately and she extinguished the warming chakra.
"I read it in a book and tried it sensei! It's a lot easier than the books say" She heard herself say, lying calmly with the precision of a seasoned nin. Iruka looked at her searchingly before seemingly accepting her lie.
"That's an amazing skill Sakura-chan, if you would like I could speak to the head medic instructor at the hospital! I'm sure they'll be more than happy to have a talented pupil like yourself" he cheered, happily fluffing her hair. Sakura jerked away from his touch instinctively, to Iruka's bemusement.
"Can I leave now?" she asked, moving to her feet and stretching her stiff muscles. Iruka shook his head, smiling widely at her.
"Not yet! The medics still need to treat your eyes and burns. They should be back soon, I just wanted to stop by and see how you're doing," Iruka smiled. Sakura found herself smiling, despite herself. She had always liked how kind and genuine her old sensei was. Realizing she was smiling at an imposter, she snapped back to attention, schooling her emotions back to normal.
"Thank you for your concern, sensei," she said, a fake smile stretching her face as she gazed back at him. He scratched the back of his head embarrassedly as he strolled to the doorway.
"No problem Sakura-chan. I'm glad you're doing well. Remember that your final exam is this Friday!" He smiled at her one last time before walking out the door, closing it quietly behind him.
Sakura immediately stood up, running a hand of soothing chakra across her body. Genin exam?
She moved her fingers to the very familiar position for a ram seal, pulsing her chakra through it. And nothing.
She did so again, then once more whispering "Kai." Not even a ripple in the masterfully crafted illusion. She sat on the floor against the bed, her holding her head with her hands. Closing her eyes, she attempted to make sense of what was going on. She was back in her 12 year old body, she was in a rebuilt Konoha... no, a Konoha that was never broken. No one was dead anymore, she realized with a start, her chest filling with a hope she couldn't quite stamp down. It's just an illusion she tried to remind herself, unable to fully commit to it.
It felt so real.
The girl swore as she stood back up too quickly, feeling the blood rush out of her head as she jumped out the hospital window without a sound.
Sakura found herself sitting rigidly in the bustling classroom by the end of that week, glancing suspiciously at her surroundings. Despite her multiple attempts at breaking out of the illusion, Sakura remained deeply immersed in genjutsu. No illusion lasts over a week… and even if it did, I was nowhere near an Uchiha. Why can't I break out of this?
As she sat deep in thought, the child-versions of her old friends filled the room. She watched them quietly, listening to them make jokes and grumble about homework. They were just children. She fought back the urge to cry as a very familiar young blonde girl appeared in the doorway.
"Forehead! I can't believe you beat me here" she whined loudly, running into the room, glaring daggers into Sakura. Having nearly forgotten her old rivalry with Ino, Sakura just stared at her old friend. The last time she had seen her, Ino was drowning in her own blood on the forest ground after one of the white Zetsu had stabbed her through the stomach. Sakura hadn't been able to reach her until it was too late.
She couldn't save her.
Ino looked at her with something akin to concern as Sakura still couldn't force out words.
"What's wrong with you forehead? So scared of losing Sasuke-kun to me, you can't even speak?" Ino laughed before making a beeline to the quiet Uchiha in the corner of the room. Sakura turned around slowly, not having noticed Sasuke enter the room, observing as he inched away from Ino.
Sasuke, the reason Konoha had fallen. Sasuke, the man who betrayed her and her village time and time again. Sasuke, who has had her heart for the last 10 years.
Sakura turned away, blinking away annoying tears. She was an established jonin level medic-nin, one of the strongest kunoichi in not only Konoha, but in all the nations. She had more chakra in her yin-seal that ever recorded in history and could demolish mountains with a light tap.
And this young boy could bring her to her knees.
Suddenly there was a crash as another familiar blond ran into the room, a newly acquired forehead protector glinting as he rushed by. A crushing wave of nostalgia passed through her as Sakura watched her best friend, her brother, run to the back of the classroom.
Sakura sat alone in her seat, leaning her head onto the desk in front of her before closing her eyes. She listened to the old, too-familiar sounds of the classroom bustle, young almost-nin chattering around her. Even their footsteps sounded the same she noted, mentally compartmentalizing everyone in the room. Naruto's loud footsteps running – no, stomping – up the stairs, of the classroom, Chouji's rather heavy thuds to her left corner, Shikamaru dragging his feet beside him.
It was so real.
She suddenly heard a crash and multiple screeches behind her, Sakura whipping her head back at the noise. Her eyes burned as she opened them so suddenly, grabbing the sharpest object in her vicinity as she stood to the noise.
She stared as she watched Sasuke and Naruto's infamous first kiss, dropping her pencil in surprise.
The two broke apart, shouting unintelligibly as she sat back down, shivering.
A genjutsu requires constant disruption to the target's cerebral nervous system, thereby affecting all five senses. However, other than doujutsu related genjutsu, no genjutsu can use one's own private memories and project them into a flawless illusionary world.
This is what Sakura remembered after releasing a large pulse of chakra straight to her spinal cord, into her brain.
And then all she saw was black.
Chapter End