"The warring states period? What am I even doing here? Wait a minute, who are you?" the confused pinkette said as she crossed her arms over her chest. Her green-eyed beauty .

"I just told you that I'm Inner Sakura," she replied a bit annoyedly. "Inner Sakura?" Sakura scoffed deliriously. "For all I know, Inner Sakura is my inner persona that only exists in my mindset. No one else except a few know about her," she replied. "But I-" but she was cut short. "Save it, I don't wanna hear it," she retorted as she waved her hand dismissively.

*eyebrow twitch*

"Now, why don't you start explaining the genjutsu you're using before the real Inner Sakura comes into play?" the med nin said as she smirked, her face uncharacteristically cold. The next thing, she found herself flying in the air. She flipped in the air and landed neatly on the ground, her automatically going to her bruised cheek. The woman's hair flying in what she had associated to be a typical Inner Sakura fashion, her eyes white with anger. "I just said so, I'm Inner Sakura, shannaro!" she shouted heatedly, stomping her foot on the ground and creating a mini crater. Sakura stared wide eyed at the woman. And for the first since she had met the woman, she truly saw Inner Sakura. The anger, wild hair, eyes ablaze, loud and bossy attitude, a ticked vein on her forehead. She even noticed a small kanji on the woman's forehead written 'Inner'. "Woah, you really are Inner Sakura," she spoke. Inner huffed annoyedly. "I can't believe you're this stupid, Outer," Inner said as she pouted sourly. "Hey, you can't blame me for being paranoid,' Sakura replied sheepishly.

The two moved to sit down on the grass. "I need your help," Inner said seriously. Sensing the significant change in atmosphere, she became attentive. "My name is Sakura Haruno and a member of the Haruno clan. I'm sure you know the Harunos as a merchant clan but that's wrong. We're not a merchant clan, we're actually a prestigious ninja clan," Inner explained, enjoying the shocked expression of her outer self as she mentioned her clan. "We're descendants of Hamura Otsutsuki of the Moon clan. Our clan symbol is a white circle representing the moon. We're also long distant cousins of the Uchiha and the Hyuuga clan, just like the Uzumaki are with the Senju. We don't have any doujutsu like the Hyuuga and Uchiha clan however we have people who are able to sense the future," she explained. "People who are able to sense the future?" Sakura asked puzzledly. Inner nodded grimly. " Yes, to sense the future whenever something bad or good is about to happen. Take for example when Sasuke was about to leave the village, you knew it though no one ever told you, not even Sasuke himself. Have you ever wondered what made you know?" Inner questioned her. Sakura held her chin in thought. "I just thought that I had guessed his intentions," she replied flatly. "You sensed it. That's why you knew," Inner said. "Think of it as our clan's doujutsu. Of course, it's not everyone who has that same power. Even if you have it, it's mostly seen with people you share strong bonds with. Take for example Sasuke, you had a bond with him that why you saw," she concluded. Sakura nodded in understanding.

"So what does this have to do with me being here in the Warring states period?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow. "A few months ago, I received word from our clan head that he had sensed the extinction of the Haruno. We were going to be attacked by the Kaguya clan as they saw us as a threat during this time of war. We have no affiliations with any clan, not even the Uchiha and Hyuuga. Our power to sense was too powerful for them so they thought it was best to annihilate us. So I went-"


She woke up with a start. "Sakura-chan!" she heard Naruto exclaim. The blonde rushed over to her side and hovered over her, like a mother hen taking care of her chick. "Are you okay?" he asked. She noticed she was sleeping on a futon and it was early morning. She sat up and eyes her surroundings. They were in the forest. "What happened?" she croaked hoarsely, her throat dry and parched. Naruto took a nearby water bottle and helped her drink it up. "Thanks," she said in a slightly clearer voice. He nodded. "One moment you were in the cave, and the next you were screaming. I rushed with teme inside the cave to find only you collapsed on the ground. No sing of the hooded figure except the cloak on top of you," he explained. "Oh," she said. "What happened inside that cave?" the jinchuriki asked, peering at her with curious eyes. "I'll tell you but first you'll have to get Sasuke. I don't see-" "I'm here," the Uchiha said monotonously. The two turned to see their teammate jumping down from a tree a few metres away from them before making his way to her unoccupied side. "Hey," Sakura greeted. "Hey, you okay?" he asked. She hummed positively. "So what was it you wanted to tell us?" Naruto asked.


"Inner Sakura?! As in THE Inner Sakura?!" Naruto shouted disbelievingly. Sakura nodded. She had just given them a detailed summary of her conversation with Inner. The blonde shuddered visibly as he remembered the times he had experienced Inner Sakura's wrath first hand. Even Sasuke seemed a bit shaken but quickly masked it as soon as it came. "But how is that possible?" the jinchuriki asked. "I don't know. She was explaining before I woke up. I guess our connection broke," she sighed. Sasuke nodded. "Guess that explains my theory," the Uchiha muttered. "Theory? What theory?" Sakura asked. "Time travel," he said. When he was replied looks, he decided to continue. "When we first appeared here, I noticed that the surrounding here was unusual. When I detected a town, it was the same yet different, as though it was backward. When I took my first watch, I used my Rinnegan to teleport to the town. It was Tanzaku Gai and it looked pretty backward form that I remember. So I decided to open a few portals to different places. I teleported to the Hidden Leaf, there was no village. To the Hidden Sand, no village. So I discovered a web of interlinking portals, all were running parallel to each other and the same. After a few investigations or two, I summed that we're during the Warring states period, a year before the formation of the Hidden Leaf," the dark haired boy explained. Naruto nodded as he digested this information. "Is it an alternate dimension of some sorts?" he asked as he remembered Madara's jutsu which had sent them to an alternate dimension.

"No. We're in our timeline, except farther back in the past," he concluded. "Oh," the blonde said. "When are you going to be able to talk to Inner Sakura again? She probably has more information than me. I've only come up this," Sasuke as he eyed his teammate. "To be honest, I don't know. The connection just broke. I'll have to see the next time I get to talk to her otherwise I really don't know," she replied truthfully. He nodded thoughtfully. "Let's go to Tanzaku Gai, we're almost there. Then we can decide on what to do next," he said. They both nodded affirmatively.


They had taken a light breakfast of ninja rations before continuing their journey. Sakura mulled over what Inner had told her. To be honest, it was really too much to take in at once. The Haruno clan being a ninja clan, having a sensory jutsu, extinction of her clan, it was too much. "You know, it's cool that you're a member of the Moon clan," Naruto said as they jumped from tree to tree. Sakura hummed in agreement. "That explains your precise chakra control," he added thoughtfully. "I'm not really sure about that part," she replied. "But still, we're all descendants of Sage Gramps, dattebayo! I'd say we're the strongest team on Earth!" the blonde exclaimed with a grin. Sakura sent him a warm. "Yeah" she said as she stepped on a tree branch-


She found herself face to face with Inner. "What just happened?" she asked. Inner smiled sheepishly as she motioned for them to sit down. "Sorry for calling you abruptly but this is urgent. I hadn't finished talking to you yet," Inner said as she made herself comfortable. "Oh, okay," Sakura said. "As I said, I met with our clan head, Haruna-sama and we discussed for a way forward. We decided to perform a forbidden jutsu that would send a part of one's soul into the future, the Inner Split Jutsu," Inner said. "What's that?" Sakura asked as she leaned closer, her interested already piqued.

"It's a jutsu only known to the Haruno clan. It allows a person to send a part of their soul into the future to be reincarnated at a later date. When the person who cast the jutsu dies, their soul is sent into their future counterpart's mind as their Inner Self. It has some complications. It requires extremely precise chakra control, any mistake could annihilate an entire village," her counterpart explained. "So that's what happened to me?" she asked uneasily. Inner nodded. "In order to protect the clan, Haruna-sama and I performed the jutsu on myself. To send a part of my soul into the future, when I died I would be reincarnated as Inner Sakura" she said. Sakura nodded. "But why'd you do it?" she asked. "We hoped by the time the Kaguya would attack, you would be well prepared to come here and help us fight them," Inner replied. "Can't the clan protect itself?" the pinkette asked puzzledly. If they were a ninja clan the they could protect themselves, right?

"The fact that Haruna-sama neither saw our victory or survival means we won't be able to stop them. But however you can," Inner said as she brightened up. "Me?" Sakura asked disbelievingly. "To be honest, I wasn't sure on how I was going to turn out. You were born in a civilian family with nothing special except precise chakra control and immunity to genjutsu. Of course, as time went by, you became stronger and I'm happy to say that I am proud of the way you turned out," Inner said proudly. "No, I can't do it. I can't protect an entire clan, it'd be a waste of time," Sakura as she stood up. Inner stared at her with bewilderment. "I can't protect you. I'm not strong enough. I may be a descendant of Hamura but I'm not like Naruto and Sasuke, they have the power to do that. But I'm just Sakura nothing special about me," she explained with a hard face. "Sorry to disappoint you but find someone else to do the job. I'm not cut out for this," she concluded, setting her lips into a hard line.

Inner had to be kidding! Her, as in Sakura Haruno, protect an entire clan?! Pfth, don't make her laugh. She neither had the potential to protect or lead a clan to victory. 'I can't do this, it's just too much,' she thought with a wiry smile. "But Sakura-"


She opened her eyes and found herself staring at the clear sky. She turned her head to see Naruto gutting a rabbit a few metres away from her. "Naruto?" she called out as she rose into a sitting position. The said blonde turned to face his friend. "Oh great, you're up," he chirped as he made his way towards her. "What happened?" she asked. "We were talking then you just fell. Luckily Sasuke-teme caught you before you hit the ground. You sort of fell asleep when we were travelling," he explained. "Fell asleep huh?" she sighed heavily. "Did you talk to Inner Sakura?" he asked. She nodded. "It's nothing important but I'll fill you in," she said as she massaged her temples.


She had told them of the Inner Split Jutsu on their way to Tanzaku Gai, though she omitted the part about protecting the Haruno clan. She couldn't tell them just yet. If they discovered that she refused to help her clan, they would have her head on a silver platter. Firstly, she needed to recollect her thoughts. Inner Sakura shouldn't expect her to agree all of a sudden. She had earned everything she had through sweat, tears and blood. Inner was about to rip that away from her. She had her life planned out ahead of her. So what if she was a piece of someone's soul, she was still Sakura after all! They arrived in Tanzaku Gai at dusk. The city was bustling with life. It lacked some of the modern material they were used to but it was still Tanzaku Gai and it was tad bit relieving.

"I'll search for food-" "No, I'll be searching for the food and clothes, we can't walk around with these clothes. You guys find accommodation," Sakura said as she grabbed the wallet from an already grumbling Naruto. The blonde made a face before walking away with Sasuke.


She had just bought some cloaks, a few yukatas and some groceries. She would decided on what to cook at home. She walked through the streets of Tanzaku Gai, passing a few market stalls along the way. She felt a presence following her but shook it off. She had just finished buying some anko dumplings before she felt a tug which prompted her to look behind her. She turned around to find a small grey-haired girl staring at her with wide, glassy green eyes. "Kaa-san?" the girl said, her voice full of emotion. She was dressed in rags, dirty and looked to be four or five. She stared at the puzzledly at the girl. Was she perhaps lost? "Okaa-san?" she said, tears threatening to fall and at that moment something clicked in her

"Harumi."


Done with this chapter, hope you enjoy. Now Sakura knows that story behind Inner Sakura, or is it part of the story? And we have a little kid calling Sakura her okaa-san. Naughty naughty Sakura, what did you do? Anyways I hope you enjoy it.

Tozoonana

AfricanFire