It had been a long journey, and my body was simply aching, and we were only on the boat! Sasuke had been staring at me weirdly the entire time, and I had no idea why. It was making me uncomfortable, if I'm being honest. Also, we still had the battle with Zabuza to look forward to, and I had planned on becoming a bit more active in it than Canon!Sakura had. Although, with my body feeling like this? I don't think I'll be able to do much.
Unless..
I eagerly reach into my bag, rummaging around until I find a small pill container. Discreetly, I pull one out and pop it into my mouth, waiting until Tazuna begins to talk to bite down on it. Immediately, I feel a surge of strength and energy rush through my body. I am filled with pure, unkempt, energy.
Is this how Naruto feels?
I sigh and try my best not to jump overboard and swim my way to the dock. Finally, after like, three minutes we arrived at shore. Immediately, I jumped up and basically flew off of that boat, running around like a child who just had five tubs of cotton candy. It was fun, but probably not for the others.
I payed no attention to the strange looks everyone (save Naruto) were giving me as I bolted ahead. In less than five minutes, I saw a movement in the bushes to my right and I pounced, producing a white rabbit.
"Sakura! You idiot! That's just a rabbit!" Sasuke taunted and I rolled my eyes.
"Yes. A rabbit. A white rabbit. White equals snow. Snow is not here. It is summer. Therefore, rabbit was raised in captivity and is a decoy. Who's the idiot now?" I rushed out, gently letting the rabbit go and glaring in the direction that his sword should fly out of. "NOW GET OUT HERE!" I roared, and then instantly hit the ground along with everyone else.
When I looked back up, my eyes met his. The world seemed to dim around us, and 'Every Time We Touch' played in the distance. "Beautiful.." I breathed, rushing over and reaching a hand out to touch the magnificent metal of his sword.
What? Did you think I was talking about Zabuza? Nah. His sword, Kubikiribōchō, is amazing. I've always liked (more like loved, if we're being honest here) it. It was such a beautiful sword, and it had me captivated the moment I first gazed upon it in the anime.
It sounds like I want to fuck it, geez.
However, I was snapped out of my mental rant about a sword when I was thrown backwards, pain radiating throughout my body as I slammed onto the hard bark of the tree. I let out a low grunt, looking over to see a kunai lodged in my shirt. "Christ, Zabuza, what was that for?" I hissed out, prying the sharp object from my clothes. "And this was my favorite shirt too! Well, at least I'll look cool I guess." I shrugged.
They all just stared at me. "What?" I questioned, and everyone sweatdropped. Except for Zabuza. He shook his head. Kakashi and Zabuza then began their long as fuck conversation and I groaned.
"Come on! Let's fiiiighhhht. I wanna mooove, punch things, get the shit beat outta me!" I whined, earning the ever-so-rare chuckle from Zabuza and an uncharacteristic agreement from Sasuke.
"Alright, kid, then I guess I'll fight you first." He growled and I smiled.
However, Kakashi wasn't very fond of this plan (if his persistent protests said anything about it). I ignored him though, proceeding with my decision to get my ass kicked. I eagerly raced forward, giving him the impression that I was going to (attempt) to make a head-on collision with him. I went to throw a (false) punch at him and when he blocked it, I used his arms as leverage to propel me up and over him. Then, I gathered what chakra that I could into my fist and landed a punch right in his lower back, causing him to stumble forward a few feet. When I turned back to look at him, I was met with his fist in my gut. That, in turn, caused me to fly back and land in the middle of the lake with a large splash.
It hurt.
So, coughing, I managed to swim my way to shore and just lay there for a second puking up blood and bile. "H-hot damn, Zab-" I puked a little bit more right there,"-uza. I'm gonna b-be puking f-for days." I managed to get out before puking once more.
The man in question laughed and spoke once more. "You did well kid, managed to land a hit on me and survived a punch like that? You got potential. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to exterminate some pests. If you're lucky, I might even take you under my wing after this." As soon as he finished speaking, a heavy mist settled over the area.
Forgetting my pain for a moment, because the energy that was coursing through my body was still at an all time high and because I was about to witness the coolest battle of all fucking time, I sat up and observed, not trusting my body to be able to carry myself over to Tazuna.
"What d'ya think will happen now that you actually did something in the fight?" Inner questioned, earning a shrug from me. 'I don't really think anything will change. My presence doesn't really do much as of this moment, considering I haven't done anything to change the timeline yet.' I explained.
Inner never replied. I shrugged again, turning back to the fight (more like dialogue at this point, honestly Kakashi what are you even doing?) but letting out a loud and long groan when I was interrupted yet again. And guess who it was?
Can you?
It was a Zabuza clone. A fucking clone. So, grumbling to myself about how I was about to miss some awesome shit because of a fucking clone, I stood (shakily may I add) and turned to it, glaring. My ears were falling lord with the sound of jutsu and loud yells (probably from Naruto, if I'm being honest), making me realize that if I wanted to see anything remotely cool, that I'd have to hurry. Quickly, I whipped out a kunai and ran headfirst, sliding under it and stabbing it in the dick. Needless to say, the clone went poof pretty quickly after that.
After that, I turned and smiled, realizing that I hadn't missed all that much during the fight. When I turned back, Naruto was getting stepped on and Kakashi was in a ball of water. "Fuck. Welp, let's see how this goes." I mumbled to myself before quietly slipping under the water, coming up just enough to get air every so often.
Soon, I was beneath Zabuzas feet, and I waited. As soon as Naruto flew by and the rogue jumped up, I launched myself out of the water and gripped his ankle, pulling down with every ounce of strength that I had left.
The mans eyes widened before the jutsu broke and they came crashing into the water. However, the Swordsman managed to get a grip on my hair, pushing me down as I struggled against his grip. 'Oh god, Inner, I think I'm gonna die. He's not letting me up. Inner, he's not letting me up hesnotlettingmeuphESNOTLETTINGMEUP!' I panicked. I know I shouldn't be scared right now, that dying here in battle would be an honorable death, but I just got here in this world. And what about Sakuras parents? They'd be heartbroken, their baby already dead before her life even began. And Kakashi, he'd blame himself for putting me into danger just like he has all of his life (even though I'm a complete idiot and just looove getting myself into these situations apparently) and then both Sasuke and Naruto would blame themselves for not being strong enough to protect me. Though, if I'm being honest, I don't really need said protecting in the first place. No, I just need some fucking common sense for once.
"Jesus Christ, kid. You're fine. He let go of you a minute or two ago, thinking you were dead because you stopped struggling." Inner snapped and I grinned, eagerly swimming upwards and taking in greedy gulps of that beautiful, precious oxygen once I had broke the surface. I began to cough and hack loudly as water made its way out of my lungs, a tad bit of blood mixed in. "SAKURA!" Naruto screamed as he hugged me in the water.
"What? Did someone die or somethin?" I questioned, earning a slap to the back of the head (courtesy of Kakashi). Does no one have any sympathy for the injured? I mean, I could have a concussion or something for all he knows. I don't, but still. Rude.
When I looked around, Zabuza was gone and the terrain was covered in small puddles. My mind wandered back to just a few moments ago, when I was so sure that I was about to die. The pure fear that filled me was still fresh in my mind, the feeling of how the only thing that I was able to do would be making my teammates disappointed in me, always being remembered as just a little girl playing at ninja.
Useless.
That word seemed to echo in my mind, forcing itself into every book and cranny it could. Branding itself into my memeory. The energy that I had from the soldier pill seemed to fade, though I knew I wouldn't be sleeping for a few days, and my heart began to race. I didn't notice the worried calls from Kakashi, loud shouts from Naruto, or even the unusually gentle words from Inner. No, my mind was too busy with the current toxic thoughts.
I could feel bile rising, an aftermath of Zabuza I'm sure, and the stinging pain of my throat after coughing up so much water. I frowned and looked around at everyone, taking in their dirtied clothes and worried faces. "Oh, fuck this. Let's go." I grumbled, ignoring the exchanged glances between Naruto and Sasuke, and walked foreword. I didn't even notice the lack of reprimanding from Kakashi for my language!
"It's the other direction, Sakura." Said sensei called after me, and I quickly spun around and began walking the correct way. Well, I was, until Mr.CopyCat Ninja collapsed. "Oh for the love of-Naruto! Get some clones to carry him. You're the only one who can make solid clones out of the three of us. Sasuke, both me and you will help the clones carry him. He's probably just overused his chakra." I ordered, and watched as the two boys nodded and begun to follow orders (for once.)
Smiling, I walked over to Kakashis right leg and picked him up, Sasuke on his left leg, and the clones everywhere else. Not once forgetting the word that had branded itself into my memory, I looked over at my brooding teammate. "Full speed ahead, my friend!" I hollered, goofily marching alongside him.
Maybe I wasn't so useless after all.
This is honestly the worst chapter yet, and I apologize. I may edit it some in the future, but at the moment I'm sick and really don't feel like doing much. But I wanted to get this chapter out, so I do hope you enjoy. I love reading everyone's reviews, good or bad, so please write them! Have a wonderful day!