Chapter 3


"What do you mean?!" Sakura exclaimed loudly.

"You heard me, I won't repeat myself again Sakura," Tsunade exclaimed seriously to her young apprentice, while she was sitting at a small makeshift desk, made out of a few stumps and a plank of wood. It was covered in medical supplies, a map of the surrounding area and a bunch of paperwork. Sakura was surprised she hadn't seen a sake bottle anywhere.

Shizune was standing on one side of the desk within the makeshift headquarters. The shinobi alliance had to erect this HQ haphazardly. Realistically it was just a tent with a silencing seal placed on it. Holding back the ongoing war waiting beyond the sheets. Shizune gazed at Sakura sadly.

Kakashi was also in the tent. He was lazily hunched over, sitting on top of the lone cot that was pushed into the opposite corner of Shizune. Not staring directly at anyone. When Sakura looked closely, she could see his fist clenched tightly together draped over his knees in front of him. A second glance showed his shoulders were tense. Which gave Sakura a clear picture of how he felt about this situation.

"Just so I get this straight you're telling me… you want me to go back in fucking time and fix everything that's been wrong with history?!" Sakura yelled at her Shishou. On the verge of a panic attack. She was quickly glancing between the three figures within the room, going so fast her head was starting to spin.

Tsunade next expression portrayed one of sadness. Her façade aging within seconds, showing just a little of her true age. "Sakura… this is just a failsafe. You may not even need to use this jutsu. No one knows how this is going to play out and if the worse were to befall Kohona, let alone the world, we need someone who can fix it."

Stilling at her Shishou' words, Sakura looked down toward her feet. Her next words coming out quiet and soft. "But why choose me… Why not Naruto? Or Kakashi? Or even you! Anybody else would be better…" "…. Then me," Sakura words cut off slowly toward the end. Knowing if she showed any insecurities Tsunade would yell at her, saying she wasn't that weak girl she took on years ago. She couldn't think straight. She knew she was strong. She knew there was a lot she could do. But she was realistic, she wasn't important, she wouldn't be able to do this. What change could genin Sakura do to all the horrible things that had happened to her as a kid.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair, fingers drumming on top of the desk. Looking down at her desk she looked like she was contemplating her next words before she spoke. "Your right. It probably would be better if one of them could go, but they can't do it. Only you can. The Jutsu requires someone with precise Chakra control, any deviation in the process could rip a hole into the fabric of the universe and knowing your teammates luck they might just do that." Tsunade smiled to herself before continuing on, "Plus I'm too old to be doing things like that." She laughed softly before she continued, "and the Jutsu wreaks havoc on the user's body. It literally tears it apart piece by piece. Only you or I would be able to complete this journey using the Creation Rebirth jutsu." Tsunade looked up at Sakura again straight in the eyes, "But again this is only a precaution, your only to use this if there is no hope. No salvation. No one left. You need to promise me this Sakura, that no matter what happens, no matter who may die, that you will only use this jutsu when it is the only thing left to do. This will be the hardest mission I will ever give you. You need to make an oath to me not only as your Hokage, but as your mentor and friend, that you will only use this under dire circumstances." Tsunade' s hand clenched into a fist on top of the desk, "And I hope it goes without saying that this discussion is not to leave this room or to be discussed with any others." She glared directly at Sakura, "Especially Naruto."

Sakura clenched her eyes shut. Trying to calm down and think logically about the words just spoken to her. Tsunade said it herself; this was a last resort. She may not even have to do anything. Naruto, Kakashi and even Sasuke (even with all his current emotional problems) would never let the world get to that point. Right? When the next words were spoken it wasn't because she believed she would actually need to complete the mission, they were spoken because she knew she would never need to. The resounding yes, she was about to give her mentor wasn't a yes that she thought she was worthy, or important, it was a yes to herself. That her boys would never put her in that position. She was answering her own question spoken quietly in the confines of her own head.

Before she said the one word that would seal her fate, she glanced up at the other two occupants in the room. Shizune had her eyes squeezed shut and was clutching her arms in a self-hug, squeezing herself tightly. Sakura then glanced over to Kakashi who had moved his head into his hand, squeezing tightly at his own hair, his shoulders were slightly shaking with every inhale and exhale he took. She then glanced directly into her beloved mentors' eyes. She strengthened her resolve and uttered the next words with as much courage that she could muster.

"Hai Shishou, I accept this mission."


Sakura jolted up suddenly, she quickly took in her surroundings. The window on the wall was propped open letting in the light from the rising sun. With the light she was able to look at the two boys on either side of her and quickly the previous day's activities came flooding back to her. Her waking up in her genin body, her training, her boys, her passing out from chakra exhaustion the night before. She rubbed one of her eyes trying to ease the tension building in her head from all the memories. The dream was a memory she had not looked back on in so long, it was almost surreal to experience it again. She looked down and realized she was tucked into her cot. She smiled softly. One of the boys must have covered her while she was sleeping.

Collecting herself she slowly rose from her cot and proceeded to head downstairs to help Tsunami with breakfast.

When she reached the sitting room, Kakashi was already sitting at the table reading his Icha Icha book, with a small cup of tea placed in front of him. Stream rolling off the top of the mug. He glanced up when she arrived, giving her what she thought was a smile, assumed from the way his eye crinkled, as his mask was hiding the rest of his face.

"Maa, Sakura-chan, you were out like a light last night." He glanced back down at his book chuckling he then stated, "You know you're cute when you snore."

"I don't snore!" She shot back, blushing furiously as she hurried to the kitchenette where Tsunami could be seen giggling over a pot of rice. Ignoring Kakashi, Sakura came up to stand beside Tsunami. "Is there anything I can assist with Tsunami-san?"

Tsunami winked down at Sakura. "Thank you Sakura-Chan, but I have it from here. Would you like some tea? It's not anything special, just some wild leaves I was able to collect yesterday while everyone was so busy with work. It's a mix of mint and clover blossoms." She smiled kindly down at Sakura.

"Thank you! I'd love that," Sakura grabbed a cup from the cupboard and noticed a pot filled with water on the stove near the pot of rice. Tsunami took the cup she was holding and poured some of the green tinted liquid from the pot into the cup. Sakura took the cup back from her and went and sat down at the table opposite from Kakashi. She slowly brought her steaming cup up to her lips and blew softly across the rim cooling it down enough to take her first sip.

She peered over the rim of the ceramic at the man sitting across from her. Too engrossed in his book to notice her lingering gaze.

"Breakfast will be ready in just a couple more minutes. I'm going to wake the boys and Inari. Tazuna was up last I knew… he should be down soon as well," Tsunami said wiping her hands in her apron as she went to head upstairs.

Sakura turned her gaze away from Kakashi towards Tsunami as she disappeared up the stairs. She lifted her mug up to take another sip as her gaze floated back to the man sitting across from her. He was staring back at her this time, his one visible eye portraying no emotions, just a blank gaze. He snapped his book shut, placing it down on the table. He leaned lazily back, slouching in his chair. His whole demeanor then shifted. His once blank gaze slowly transformed into a disarming fake smile.

"So….. Sakura-chan. Are you going to tell me why you practically passed out last night at the table?" He said, his full attention on her.

She placed her cup back on the table, both hands wrapped around the mug. Looking back down at the cup, she schooled her features so the small amount of panic wouldn't seep through. She hoped that she hadn't been exposed of pushing herself too much last night. She then looked back up and gave him what she hoped was a sheepish grin and scratched the back of her head. Trying to play it off as embarrassment.

"The tree walking must have taken more out of me than I thought." She tried to pass it off.

"Mmmmm… I may have agreed with you if it weren't for the fact you left the training yesterday looking perfectly normal. Did something happen between the times you left training and the time you came in last night?" He asked with a slight uplift of his eyebrow towards her.

"Umm…." "Shit shit shit shit," Trying to come up with a quick excuse, she decided to use a half truth, "… I got bored babysitting Tazuna-san, so I was practicing tree walking on the bridge… I figured it was the same concept that you showed us with the trees. Plus, you said Zabuza wouldn't be well enough to come after us again for another couple days, so I thought I would be safe to train further." She looked down into her cup, shoulders drooping down, "I want to get stronger…. The whole thing with Zabuza scared me. How can I protect the people I love if I'm weak?" She bit her lip calling up every sad emotion that she could to bring tears to her eyes to really drive the half-act home, "... you even said it yesterday, every shinobi has to start from somewhere. This is me starting. I don't have any cool Ninjutsu like Sasuke or even Naruto…. I need to start from somewhere. Until I can learn more advanced Jutsu's I'm going to focus on the basics. I'm going to drill the basic katas and Jutsu you teach me until they become second nature." She looked up at him frowning, "…. I don't want my precious people to die Sensei."

Kakashi shoulders drooped. His visage turned sympathetic and understanding, "Sakura you know I'll protect you; I'll protect all of you. You won't die. But overworking yourself like that while on a mission is risky and puts not only your life in jeopardy but the whole teams." Kakashi said.

She griped the cup tighter, almost to the point of it cracking, "Sensei, you're strong. Unbelievably strong, you're one of the strongest men that I know, and I'm leagues behind you in strength and power. I'm an ant under your shoe. And you went toe to toe with Zabuza. What this trip has taught me is that there's always somebody out there who's stronger, someone out there who wants to hurt others, whether with money, with power or with strength. I need to get stronger for not only the team, I need to be stronger for me. You, Naruto, Sasuke- Kun; you won't always be there to protect me. And right now, we can't do much because of your injuries. But what I can do is work on my stamina and my chakra control. I mean isn't that why we do D rank missions. To not only service our village but to build up strength and stamina? I can do that here helping this village. We can bring hope to this village and these people while also helping ourselves to become stronger. It may not be a lot but its something." Sakura said while smiling warmly at Kakashi. "But I understand the position it puts us in if another one of us falls ill, I'll try not to push myself too hard."

"We'll get there together, as a team. Maybe I- "Kakashi was cut off by Naruto's voice and loud steps down the stairs, "MAN am I starving! Sakura-chan! You snored so loud last night I thought there was a hurricane in our room!" Naruto said laughing while he grabbed a bowl for breakfast and sat down to the right of her. Sakura's face grew red in embarrassment, and she slapped him hard upside the head, making sure to not include any chakra in her hit. "BAKA! I do not snore!" She ignored the other patrons who started sitting at the table collecting their breakfast as well. She ate her rice and mumbled under her breath "And here I was going to be nice and give you a hint on the tree walking."

Sasuke, who was to the left of her, perked up at her mumbling, "What do you mean a hint?"

Sakura rolled her eyes in her head, "Well you two obviously still haven't gotten tree walking down and what kind of teammate would I be if I didn't help you guys try to be better. We are in this together. Your successes are mine."

Naruto jumped excitedly in his seat, "Tell us! Tell us!"

"Calm down and I will!" Sakura exclaimed rolling her eyes at him and his boundless amounts of energy.

All three of her boys were now paying rapt attention to her. She turned to Naruto "Well first off, you're not putting in enough chakra. That's why you kept falling off the tree. You need to concentrate and center yourself. You are losing your focus way too fast." Sakura then turned to Sasuke, "You Sasuke-kun are the complete opposite. You are so focused on the task and what you are doing that you are pushing too much chakra to your feet which is causing the tree to break instead of letting your feet stick to it. You need to relax a little and let your body naturally adhere to the tree. And instead of running up the tree, try using your hands first to sense the chakra that naturally courses through it. You want to imitate that frequency and amount. That way you'll stop hurting yourselves and stop expending so much stamina."

Kakashi was nodding his head along with her explanation. She then continued hoping that maybe he might offer more "insight" and help to further their training. "I also heard that some ninjas could walk on water or even walk on the most perilous of paths just with this type of training…. I tried water walking but I can't seem to get it. I feel like I am missing something…. Any tips Sensei?"

Kakashi scratched the back of his neck, "Well… you were right about the tree walking. Water walking is similar, but the difference is that water is in motion. It's continuously changing so its frequency changes. You need to adapt your chakra, so it moves and ebbs with the water." He stared at Sakura contemplating something for a moment, "…. Honestly Sakura water walking will be way too easy for you. The thing you probably want to work on right now is meditation and stamina training. Your control is good, but you need to improve your stores of physical and spiritual chakra. Without those anything else you do will be pretty useless."

Sakura inwardly smiled, knowing this was the Sensei she knew. Not just because he was focusing on her but he was teaching or trying to anyway.

"Thanks Sensei! I'll definitely work on that. I know Naruto and Sasuke suck at chakra control ("SAKURA! Don't be so mean!" Naruto piped up) and that's why we are probably focusing on it so much, but you can't just leave me behind!" She grinned at him, "Also Sensei I'm sorry to say this but… you kind of suck at teaching. If Naruto and Sasuke have to learn and focus on Chakra control and I have to focus on Increasing my stores and stamina, then you have to work on something to!" She finished pointing a finger in his face like a kid again. Which she was but…. Anyway. She saw Kakashi's face turn into a puppy pout and then further into a scowl when Naruto was rolling on the floor laughing, she's pretty sure she even heard Sasuke laughing under his breath and Inari trying to hid a small smile. Tsunami was giggling behind her hand and Tazuna was chuckling. Kakashi then glared at her, then grinned evilly.

"You're on Sakura-Chan, I'll work on being better at teaching right now," He looked to Tazuna, "Oi Tazuna last night you said you needed more laborers, right? How about Sakura-chan here helps with building that bridge? You know since she needs to work on her stamina. Oh, and don't worry, push her until she's crying." He turned back to her and grinned with a little twinkle in his eye.

"I mean, I don't see why not we could use all the help we can get." Tazuna said, side eying Sakura with a small grin on his face.

"But-but that's so not fair! That's just manual labor its not training at all!" She yelled at him across the table. She crossed her arms in a petulant manor and pouted to herself.

"All's fair Sa-ku-ra-Chan," He laughed while everyone else at the table laughed as well.

While Kakashi and everyone was distracted Sakura in the middle of her pouting smiled full heartedly and caught Tazuna's eye and winked in his direction. He grinned back at her.

The rest of the week was uneventful. The boys practiced their tree walking, even with the pointers and hints they both still didn't manage to get it down until the night before the big fight. Sakura continued to help Tazuna with building the bridge while also secretly practicing her other items on her list. Kakashi spent most of his time reading and recovering. She couldn't fault him on this one, they both knew another fight was coming and he needed to be in top shape, or at least close enough to it.

A couple things ended up playing out the same way but with different igniters. Naruto was the one that commented about the picture on the wall. Sakura forgot that she had originally asked until inari was slamming the door behind him. Kakashi and Naruto both still spoke to inari about their feelings. Connecting with him and guiding him to understand his own emotions. The bridge is super close to being finished they probably only have a day and a half left to complete it fully.

There was one thing Sakura didn't take into consideration. She didn't understand how something so small could change things so much. I mean she could, but she thought she had taken precautions. Had a plan in place to prevent shit like this from happening.

She was fucked.


AN: Sorry not sorry for the cliff hanger. Don't worry its not toooo bad lol but I feel like I've been in a writing groove lately and will hopefully get the next chapter out soon.