When Sakura awoke that morning, it was with a start. She sat up quickly, startled by her surroundings in her sleep-muddled state. It took only a moment for her memories from the day before to resurface and, when they did, a deep frown pulled at her lips.
What was the standard operating procedures for when someone found themselves in the past anyways? There certainly weren't any books or manuals detailing what one should do if they find themselves tossed backwards in time. At least not that she knew of.
She sighed deeply, stretching as much as she could in her tiny hideaway to work out the kinks in her joints. She rubbed at her face, scrubbing at the tear trails from the night before which had cut streaks across her dirty face.
Taking stock of her chakra levels, she was satisfied to find that they were at full capacity once again. She still felt a deep sense of mourning at the theft of the chakra she had spend years storing in her Strength of a Hundred Seal. It felt like a vital piece of her had been ripped out of her arms and the loss still stung. Even though she worked to replenish her seal by funneling in what chakra she could spare, a task that had become so familiar to her that she did so unconsciously, she couldn't shake the sense of feeling empty.
She had once had the chakra of an army stored in her forehead but she was once again left with nothing.
The second thing she noticed, when her stomach groaned loudly, was that she was famished. She realized belatedly that the only thing she had eaten in the past two days was a roasted fish during a break during the run with her squad into the Land of Iron.
Sakura pulled open her cloak enough to unhook the pack from her hip. She set the pack in her lap and opened up the flap before taking stock of the supplies she had: a handful of food pills, a half empty canteen, a storage scroll containing the majority of her medical supplies and a few other necessities, a spool of wire, a piece of flint, and her headband. She reminded herself that her few kunai remained in the trap she had set earlier as she ate one of the food pills with a few careful sips of water.
She tucked her headband more securely in the bottom of her pack before securing it to her hip once more. She disarmed the trap she had set before exiting the makeshift cave in the roots of the fallen tree.
First things first, she thought as she brushed the dirt off of her white cloak, she needed to get back to the river to refill her canteen, wash off, and catch a fish to eat. There was only so much that food pills could do.
Afterwards, she would begin her trek to the nearest town to find out what year it was. She was bound to come across one if she followed the river far enough. Towns always popped up around water sources.
With her chakra fully recharged and after a halfway restful sleep, it took little time to return to the river she had followed to find where her village would one day be built. The surplus of trees made the task even more simple, considering it was far less arduous to run through the trees than on flat ground.
When Sakura reached the river, she made quick work of refilling her canteen only to drink it all and refill it once more. After refilling her canteen a second time, she scrubbed the blood and dirt off of her hands. The combination had hardened into an ink-like shell which stained her hands a filthy brown that she struggled to remove.
Once finally finished scrubbing the stains off of her hands, she removed a kunai from the holster on her thigh and perched on the edge of the river, her sharp eyes searching for fish in the water. She quickly caught sight of one and threw her kunai with flawless accuracy, skewering the decent sized trout easily. She waded into the water to fetch it before taking it to the bank and putting it out of its misery.
After gutting the animal, she left to gather some leaf litter and dry branches from the ground around the tree line. Using her flint and a kunai to create sparks, she was easily able to start a small fire using the dry leaves and sticks she had collected.
Sakura skewered the gutted fish on a stick and planted it in the ground next to the fire. Surveying the area around her, she decided that it was safe to finally clean herself as she waited for her meal to cook.
She set her pack and the holster for her kunai down next to the fire, unwinding the bandages around her thigh and setting them next to her supplies. She toed off her boots near the pile before slipping off her cloak and rapidly scrubbing it in the water. She wringed it out and tossed it over a branch of a flimsy tree which grew next to the river before going through the same process with her shirt, her shorts, her medic apron, and her arm guards.
Instead of baring herself to the world, she elected to wade into the chilly water to clean herself as well as her undergarments. She scrubbed at her bloodied, dirty skin with her bare hands before sinking below the surface of the water to scrub at her gritty hair. Once finished, she emerged from the water and wrapped herself in his still damp cloak to preserve some of her modesty. There may not be anyone around now, but the last thing she wanted was for her first interaction with someone from the past to be with her half naked.
Sitting next to the fire, Sakura was happy to discover that her fish was cooked. She removed the meat from the fire and blew on it to cool it down before taking a bite. While she normally wasn't a fan of roasted fish, she could hardly be picky with her first meal in days.
As she made quick work of the fish, feeling her cloak dry on her back in the warm sunlight, she heard something. She paused in her eating to listen more closely and, miraculously, picked up the sounds of what she thought was voices.
Excited at the prospect of having found someone already, but cautious nonetheless, she used her canteen to put out the fire before refilling the container farther up the river than where she had bathed. As she did, the voices drifted farther away.
She dressed rapidly, throwing on her still damp clothes, slipping on her shoes, and strapping her pack to her hip, before taking off into the trees towards the sound of voices. She stayed hidden as she got closer until she was just close enough to make out the owners of the voices. She peered out from behind the trunk of a massive tree and observed the group of people walking along a dirt road.
They appeared to be a group of traveling merchants. Three men, all dressed in commoner's clothing, walked alongside an ox-drawn wagon loaded with goods. They all appeared to be related with the same deeply tanned skin and russet hair. She took note of a young boy, probably no more than six years old, perched on the edge of the cart.
They appeared to be talking about finding someone in the town they were heading to, a fact which brightened Sakura's mood considerably. So there was a town nearby.
She emerged from her hiding place in the canopy of the forest, stepping out on a tree branch above the road and facing the group of merchants.
"Excuse me," Sakura called out, giving the group a small wave.
The traders immediately jumped at the sight of the kunoichi clinging to the tree branch above them, even the haggard ox huffing in aggravation at the sudden stop. All four sets of eyes shot up to her, their expressions ranging from confusion to anger. The older men fell into odd defensive postures which communicated that they had little to no combat training.
"What do you want, ninja?!" one of the men snarled, obviously the leader of the group. He glared up at her from beneath his unruly bangs.
"I'm sorry for startling you. I'm just a bit… lost. Can you tell me about this place? Or how to get to the nearest town?" Sakura questioned softly, raising her hands in placation.
"We don't want anything to do with you, kunoichi! Leave us in peace!" the man retorted, obviously frightened and wary of her even if he masked it with anger.
"Please, I need your help. I-" have either been shot backwards in time, have been placed under the most flawless genjutsu I've ever seen, or am going completely insane "-don't know where I am or where I'm going."
"Begone, woman! Stay away!"
Sakura's eyebrows furrowed as she observed the group. It was obvious they were going to be no help to her…
It was then that her eyes settled on the young boy. Even from where she stood atop one of the massive tree branches, she could see the sweat beading on the young boy's forehead and how he trembled. How his breathing was labored and how he cradled his arm. He was suffering from something more than fear.
"A trade then?" Sakura asked, a bit more desperately than she liked. She swallowed, steeling herself, before continuing, "I'm a medical ninja, a healer. I can fix that boy's arm in exchange for information."
The merchants shared a wary glance between one another before their eyes settled back on Sakura.
"How do we know we can trust you? How can we know that this isn't a ploy to rob us?" the leader demanded.
"If I wanted to rob you, I could have easily done so already. I'm not looking for a fight or for your goods. I just want directions," Sakura returned, crossing her arms over her chest, "So what will it be?"
One of the traders, a man with his long brown hair tied in a ponytail, approached the leader of the group and they spoke in hushed tones for a moment. The other man had a pained expression on his face and Sakura assumed he must be the boy's father. After a long few moments, the leader of the group sighed heavily and nodded.
"Fine. You help my nephew and we'll tell you how to get to the next town," the man bitterly agreed as the group straightened up.
"It's a deal then. I'm coming down," Sakura responded with a nod before leaping down from the branch. She landed gracefully and waited a moment before approaching them slowly.
"My name is Sakura. I'm sorry for startling you earlier and I appreciate your help," she introduced with a small bow, deigning to leave out her last name.
She knew that the progenitors of the Haruno clan, her father's side of the family, had come to Konoha from Uzushiogakure following the destruction of the Village Hidden by Whirling Tides. She was unsure if her surname had a reputation during this time or not, or even if the Haruno family had been formed yet, and didn't want to take the chance of scaring off the merchants in case it did.
The group of men, as if surprised by her politeness, gave her an odd look before introducing themselves.
"Er, hello... Sakura. My name is Ichirou," the leader of the group responded hesitantly.
He gestured to the man with the ponytail and the young boy. "This is my brother Jirou and his son Ryota."
Jirou gave a small wave and a wary smile while Ryota eyed her from beneath his sweat soaked bangs.
Ichirou canted his head towards the so-far silent man in the back of the group with his long hair tied in a topknot and a hachimaki wrapped around his forehead. He nodded in greeting. "And this is my youngest brother Shirou."
Sakura nodded in return, introductions having been made. She stepped forward towards the young boy, giving him a calming smile.
"Hi, Ryota. May I see your arm?" she asked softly, holding out her hands, palms up.
Ryota eyed her warily before glancing over at his father. The elder man nodded once and the boy's eyes returned to Sakura. He slowly held out his arm to her, wincing as he did so. She gently grasped his wrist, observing the dirty, stained bandages wrapped around his forearm. Apparently it had been set and wrapped but was not healing properly.
"May I take off the bandages?" she asked, looking the young boy in the eyes. He worried his lip before nodding once.
She carefully unwrapped the bandages, slowly revealing the rainbow of bruising on his forearm and a deep gash which signified the bone had broken the skin.
"How did this happen?" the medical ninja asked, eyeing the dramatic bruising and weeping gash.
"I fell when gathering firewood…" Ryota whispered, looking away shamefully.
"That's fine. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes," she replied with a smile.
"I'm going to begin healing your wound. It may feel a little odd, but it won't hurt," Sakura explained before her hand began glowing with green chakra. All four pair of eyes locked in on her glowering hand, instantly fascinated.
She gently placed her palm on the uninjured part of his forearm and did a scan of his injury. The boy must have fallen onto something for his ulna, but not his radius, to have broken. And to have broken the skin as well, no less. She noticed a hematoma had already formed, signifying his body was already working to repair the fracture, and that they had done a superb job of setting his arm.
Sakura immediately began to soothe the pain as she continued her scan to see if any opportunistic bacteria had entered through the broken skin. She was relieved to find that while he did indeed have an infection, it was bacterial and insignificant enough to be treated by just stimulating his immune system. The older men gathered around her in a loose circle to watch, obviously still wary of her presence but smart enough to let her do her work uninterrupted.
"You know, when I was learning how to be a ninja, I hurt myself pretty bad once too," she began, hoping to distract the young boy from the odd sensation of the healing. It appeared to work, Ryota's eyes meeting hers curiously as she worked to accelerate the formation of a bony callus from the already formed hematoma in his fractured ulna.
"I was learning how to run through the trees. I did really well at first, so I got overconfident. I wound up slipping on a branch and falling right out of this thirty foot tree. I landed on my back so hard that it knocked the breath right out of my lungs," she made a wheezing sound, impersonating the sound she had made on impact. It had the desire effect, the young boy giggling softly. "I swear I laid on the ground for ten minutes afterwards, lamenting my mistake and trying to catch my breath."
Sakura smiled warmly as she worked to finish the repair of the fracture. Ryota's eyebrows came together, obviously discomforted by the odd sensation of the bones coming back together so quickly. When she finally began to work on healing the weeping gash and superficial bruising, he looked down, his expression morphing into one of amazement as he watched the injuries slowly fade to unblemished skin.
"Wow…" the young boy whispered in awe as the bruise disappeared and his flesh neatly knitted back together.
Once done, the medic sent a burst of chakra to stimulate his immune system. It would be unnecessary to filter his blood of the bacteria, similar to the way she filtered Kankuro's blood of Sasori's poison, when his immune system could easily destroy the infection with a little help.
Sakura's hand stopped glowing with chakra and she pulled away.
"Better?" she asked with a smile. Ryota grinned widely and nodded enthusiastically as he ran his fingers over the freshly healed skin. Even Shirou, still silent, walked forward to investigate Ryota's arm in wonder.
"That…" Ichirou began breathlessly, staring at his nephew's now uninjured arm with wide eyes, "Was amazing…"
Sakura smiled widely in response, having not received such a reaction to her medical ninjutsu in some time. She briefly wondered if medical ninjutsu even existed during this time. Perhaps these civilians had simply never seen it before with their obvious distrust of ninja.
Jirou, Ryota's father, bowed deeply at the waist. "I cannot thank you enough, Lady Sakura! We have been searching for a doctor for some time but couldn't find anyone who could help. You very well may have saved my son's life. Thank you!"
Sakura flushed in embarrassment at the man's supplication and his use of the "Lady" honorific.
"It was nothing, really," she countered modestly, waving her hand in an attempt to brush off the topic. Inside, she preened at the attention, but outwardly, she was just embarrassed.
Ichirou shook his head vehemently. "Never in all my years have I seen such a technique. I had never even heard of a medical ninja until you said you were one. We've… We've been desperate for help and that's the only reason we agreed to our arrangement. You truly are a blessing sent from the gods."
"I… I'm glad to help. Now, er… Our agreement? Can you tell me how to get to the next town?" Sakura asked, trying to casually change the subject.
"We'll do you one better than that. Please, allow us to take you. It may take longer than you're used to as a ninja, but we're well known in that city. They are wary of outsiders, especially ninja, but if you come with us, you'll have no problems getting inside," the eldest brother beseeched, leveling her with a look that reminded her of Lee.
"Yeah! And maybe you can tell me more about being a ninja!" Ryota finally piped up, his attention finally diverting from his miraculously healed wound at the prospect of spending more time with the unusual pink haired kunoichi.
"Yes, please allow us to guide you," Jirou agreed.
Even Shirou eyed her expectantly. Although he didn't speak, perhaps couldn't, his gaze communicated his approval.
While Sakura felt awkward spending even more time with the unusual family, Ichirou did have a point.
"I… Er. Well… okay," she agreed awkwardly, earning blinding smiles from nearly the entire group.
"Oh! So there are five different ele… El-e-men-tal chakra natures?" Ryota questioned excitedly from his spot seated on the edge of the cart, carefully sounding out the unfamiliar word he had just learned from Sakura.
"Yep! And some people can even combine two or even three to make a whole new kind. When I was younger, I met a boy who could combine his water and wind chakra natures to use ice ninjutsu," Sakura explained as she walked along side the rolling cart, smiling widely at the young boy who had been interrogating her for the past hour about everything related to ninjas.
At first, the three brothers seemed hesitant for the youngest member of their group to learn so much about the ninja way, as if merely the knowledge would somehow corrupt him. After Ryota began asking her how people could summon the elements and Sakura explained how chakra worked, however, they all began listening intently.
"Can you use ninjutsu, Lady Sakura? Oh, oh, set that tree on fire!" the young boy asked excitedly, pointing at a nearby oak.
"Please don't set anything on fire," Jirou, the boy's father, pleaded with a placating gesture.
"Heh, don't worry, I won't. And can't. I don't really know any elemental ninjutsu. I can work with water a bit for extracting poisons, but that's about it," she replied with a shrug, "Sorry, Ryota."
The young boy sagged against the bundle of goods on the cart dramatically with a loud groan.
Ryota perked up, his brow quirked in confusion. "Wait… Then how do you fight?"
"I specialize in a kind of taijutsu. If I wanted, I could rip that tree you pointed out right out of the ground with just my hands," Sakura explained with a grin. All three men eyed her warily at her declaration.
"Nuh-uh, no way!" Ryota declared, shooting up in his excitement, "Show me!"
She grinned, considering showing off her strength to the small boy when she heard the distinct sound of a kunai whistling through the air.
Her eyes shot to the source and she had just enough time to launch a kunai of her own to deflect the projectile, protecting Ichirou. She launched herself forward, placing herself between the threat and the merchants, as Ichirou stumbled backwards in surprise.
"Show yourself!" Sakura yelled into the forest, already accumulating chakra in her hands in preparation for the battle.
"Hehe. Never would have thought a pretty pink haired girl like you would be a halfway decent ninja," a deep voice chuckled before a man stepped out onto the tree branch before them, revealing himself.
The dark haired man before them reminded Sakura of an Inuzuka in the way he held himself. Cocky, vicious, and wild. His untamed hair shot off in all different directions and his tanned skin betrayed years of work in the sun. His chest was bare, decorated with a large tattoo of a shuriken, and he wore black pants tucked into a pair of shinobi sandals. Strapped across his back with a thick piece of rope was a massive fuma shuriken.
Sakura narrowed her eyes at the man who had just tried to kill her new friend and guide. Based on his tattoo and the giant shuriken strapped to his back, he was of the Fuma clan. While she struggled with what implications this battle could have in regards to the future, she couldn't abandon these innocent people.
"Everybody, stay close," Sakura muttered to the group behind her. The three brothers immediately came together to form a defensive circle around Ryota.
"What, no greeting? You're not going to ask what I want?" the man asked with a feral grin.
"I know what you want. But you're going to have to go through me to get it!" she roared in response, assuming this man had his eyes set on whatever these merchants were hauling.
The stranger barked out a laugh before leveling her with a derogatory stare. "What, you think you're tough just because you deflected a kunai, pretty girl? I'll show you!"
He shot out of the tree, descending upon her, at the same time a fuma shuriken erupted from the forest at her side. The massive projectile easily clipped the thick branches of the trees, barreling down upon her.
Multiple opponents then.
Sakura simply ducked, the shuriken flying over her and trimming a few longer hairs from the top of her head, before she flooded her feet with chakra. She launched herself at the oncoming shinobi with a speed he hadn't been expecting by the surprised look on his face. She reared back to deliver a punch midair and the ignorant stranger simply raised his hands to block.
She smirked as she landed a punch in the center of his crossed forearms, her fist breaking the bones in both of his arms before slamming into his chest and launching him backwards into the forest. She felt his sternum fracture under her strike as blood spewed from his mouth and knew from experience that he would be out of the fight, if he even survived.
The moment she landed on her feet, she jolted back towards the group of merchants huddled around their youngest family member. She scanned the forest, searching for her next opponent, and caught sight of another Fuma shuriken flying out of the trees.
The path of this projectile had both her and the merchants at it's heart. No dodging this one.
Sakura shot her chakra coated hand into the ground, flipping up a slab of earth to block the massive shuriken. When she heard the dull thump of it hitting the rock wall, she kicked out at the slab of stone. The hunk of rock shot across the field and into the forest towards where the weapon's owner had been.
There was a harsh rustle of leaves before another stranger, this time a middle aged woman equipt with a katana and dressed in a black kimono, erupted from the canopy. She descended upon Sakura, intending to land a blow with her sword.
The medic side stepped her strike and expertly dodged a few slices, searching for an opening. When she was presented with one, she kicked the strange woman in the chest, rocketing her back into the forest. Sakura caught sight of the same symbol of a shuriken on the back of her kimono before the woman's corpse, her chest cavity crushed, disappeared into the forest.
This time, two men emerged from the forest on either side of her, one wielding a dadao and the other a naginata. They tried to attack her at the same time, but neither could connect their weapons with the evasive medic. As they grew frustrated with their lack of success, their strikes became more erratic.
When they both swung down on her at once, exposing their middles, Sakura dove underneath their guards and struck. Her fist connected with the dadao wielder's chin, tossing him high into the air. She heard his jaw and teeth crunch under her strike and knew that he was out of the fight. She spun around rapidly to land a kick on the naginata wielder's side. He shot out, slamming into a tree hard enough to crack it vertically. He slumped over, dead, his weapon falling to the ground with the clink of wood.
She fell back into a defensive stance, waiting for her next opponent. When none presented themselves, she spun in a slow circle, taking in her surroundings. The merchants were unharmed although they stared at her with wide-eyed expressions. Jirou held his hand over Ryota's eyes even though the young boy seemed to be doing everything in his power to observe the fight.
Sakura heard the sound of footsteps on the grass and whipped around to face it. She waited for her next foe to appear but realized that the sound of footsteps was heading away and not towards her. They were fleeing then.
Smart move.
The kunoichi stood tall, abandoning her stance, and briskly walked towards her guides. She looked them up and down, finding no injuries, but still asked, "Is everybody alright?"
"That was amazing!" Ryota yelled after he finally pulled his father's hand away from his eyes.
"You just- you, you flipped that hunk of ground like it was nothing! And you kicked it at that lady! And, and then you punched those guys so hard they flew away! And you're so fast!" the boy excitedly recapped, jumping up and down.
As Ryota gushed about her battle prowess, the three brothers shared a wide-eyed, slack jawed stare. Surprisingly, it was Shirou, the silent brother, who bowed first. The other two brothers quickly followed, Jirou planting a hand on his overly excited son's head and forcing him to bow as well.
"Not only have you saved my nephew's life, but you saved our lives as well. We truly are in your debt, Lady Sakura," the eldest brother, Ichirou, thanked deeply.
"How can we ever repay you?" Jirou asked, still staring at the forest floor as he bowed as deeply as he could.
"Hey, it's not a problem. I couldn't let you guys get hurt. Please stand up," Sakura beseeched, embarrassed even further by their display of supplication.
A/N: Ichirou means "first son", Jirou means "second son", and Shirou means "fourth son". There's a hidden implication there (psst, the third son is dead) that I won't address in the story. Ryota means "stout, strong". A hachimaki is a stylized headband worn as "a symbol of perseverance, effort, and/or courage". The reason Shirou wears one is as a symbol of how he doesn't allow his muteness to define him or hold him back.
A Dadao is a kind of curved sword, very similar to a scimitar in that the tip of the blade is wider and heavier than the base. A naginata is a pole weapon with a blade at the tip.