There was a distinct lack of temperature around her. While she felt a sort of coldness only the absence of warmth in her heart conjured, the air she breathed in was stale and did nothing to her senses.
She didn't understand why. Where was she? Where were Shisui and Itachi?
"I'm aware you're awake, Sakura," a voice said.
Sakura's eyes blinked open, taking in the odd geometric shaped surroundings. There was no place she knew of that looked like this and being sucked into a vortex meant that it was probably a pocket dimension of sorts.
"Where am I?" She croaked out, suddenly aware of how hoarse her voice was. Alarm coursed through her as she thought of how long it might have been since she had even taken.
"You're in a second timeline, I presume," the voice answered. Sakura managed to push herself onto her forearms and finally got to see the only other person in this place.
No mask accompanied his figure. His scarred features were shown in all of their glory and his dark hair, though reminiscent of the color of Shisui and Itachi, reminded her of someone else. She couldn't put her finger on who it was-- perhaps Kiba? Kiba had untamed spiked hair.
For some reason, she didn't think that was the correct answer. And even attempting to figure it out made her head ache.
"Second timeline?" Sakura echoed and earned a laugh of indignation.
Sakura pushed herself into a seated position as the man before her analyzed her very being, as though she had all of the answers he might be looking for.
"I want that information," the man said. He peered at her as though she might break just from his sheer presence.
She resisted, even though her body was shaking uncontrollably.
"Tell me how you did it," he said. "I want to know how someone without Hashirama's cells and Uchiha blood managed to activate a myth."
Sakura shook her head, wholly confused at his words.
That proved to be the wrong answer, as he slammed a hand onto the ground next to her. She flinched at the loud noise it made. He remained crouching and leaned even further towards her.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sakura said, resisting the urge to gulp down her fear. "Who are you?"
"My name is Uchiha Obito," he said. "And I'm aware of the forbidden jutsu you used. I want to know why you did it. How you cast it."
"I've never used a forbidden jutsu before," Sakura said. She then thought of it and frowned. "I've seen one used but I don't remember what happened."
She paused as the memory of an elder woman sacrificing her life. It was broken in her memory but she clutched to it anyway.
"Lady Chiyo of Suna. She used this jutsu to keep Gaara-san alive but it doesn't make sense when I think about it."
Sakura's features scrunched together as she tried to remember those moments, which felt so insanely long ago. Lady Chiyo was already running on fumes, so it doesn't make sense that she had enough chakra to make the exchange.
"Why doesn't it make sense?" Obito asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Because she shouldn't have been able to in her current state," Sakura told him, before she remembered the man in front of her was an enemy. Her body tensed. "Why am I here?"
"Because you have an irregular chakra signature that can only be explained by a forbidden jutsu," Obito answered. He frowned, a red eye scrutinizing her every movement. "Why do I get the impression you genuinely do not know anything of use to me?"
"If I don't know anything of use to you, then why am I here?" Sakura said, with more courage than she felt. There was an odd disconnect in her emotions, one she couldn't explain. She tried to recall someone who was courageous, someone she could mimic in this situation where she felt wholly unprepared, but no one came to mind.
She's seen Ino cower in the face on an enemy. Her master was the Hokage and never shied away but she had years of experience behind her words. Kakashi had a Sharingan of his own to aid him in battling an Uchiha.
Shisui came to mind but she knew that he had been through hellish conditions with the ANBU and previous state of Konoha. Itachi was in a similar boat.
"You're the Hokage's apprentice," Obito said. Sakura answered his statement with a glare. "You must have endured torture training, with being in such close proximity to classified information. And with the entire Uchiha clan and Kyuubi kid wrapped around your fingers, I presume this is the result of precautions."
Sakura didn't respond. She didn't confirm nor deny whatever Obito thought he knew because, to her knowledge, she never met the Kyuubi Jinchūriki. She would let him think she knew more than what she did. After all, if he found out she was useless, she'd be dead.
"Shisui took a liking to you, so I'm sure he's built up your resistance for genjutsus powered by a Sharingan," Obito went on. "But that doesn't mean it won't be painful. After all, this will put your mind against whatever blockers are in place."
Obito's eye transformed and before Sakura could do anything to defend herself, she found herself caught in the illusion.
It was difficult to hold in the screams as her entire brain felt as though it were being dipped in acid.
"Fuck," Shisui cursed. The puppets around them were finally in the process of dropping to the ground, the persistent nuisances. The puppet master was being sealed away, by the Kazekage's brother. Kankuro, Shisui thought. That's what Sakura had said.
"Where's Sakura?" The other Sand sibling asked, but she was a familiar face in Konoha. She was the one Shikamaru was seen with, near constantly if the girl was in the village. Temari.
Shisui neglected to say anything in preference of scouting the area for any other enemies. Deidara was still hiding somewhere.
"Obito took her," Itachi answered, setting a light hand onto Shisui's shoulder. "But we placed precautions so the information revealed today doesn't fall into the enemy's hands."
"That's great and all," Temari said with a grimace. "But what will you do when Naruto or Sasuke find out?"
"They'd ignore the entire war if it was to save their teammate," Gaara added, encircling the rest of the clay bombs in sand. "Are there anymore bodies that need to be sealed away?"
"Two reanimations that way," Shisui said, sticking a thumb towards his left. "Lady Chiyo and one of Orochimaru's experiments. They won't be down for long; Sasori may have been playing for time incase they'd regain enough strength to fight us again. The bone freak is particularly troublesome."
Gaara walked towards that direction and nodded. "I remember him."
Shisui vaguely remembered the Suna siblings tagging along for the mission to save Sasuke when the brat had been taken and placed under an odd genjutsu. They still weren't exactly sure what happened that night and how Orochimaru managed to basically turn an Uchiha into a mindless puppet. Sakura had theories involving Danzō, but she had no proof.
The power to render a ninja into a puppet was something Shisui knew very intimately.
"Anyone else?" Temari asked, propping her fan onto the ground and leaning on its steel frame. "I'm pretty sure there's a bomb user still floating about that needs a piece of my mind after he attacked my little brother and village."
"Deidara may have gone underground," Shisui answered. "I haven't seen any of his pests around after we skewered them with lightning needles." He looked at Itachi, who was more or less amused by the statement. "Don't tell Sasuke I used one of his favorite jutsus. I don't need his head getting any bigger."
"If Deidara wants to play mouse," Temari started with a grin. "I've got no problem being the raptor that hunts him."
For a moment, Shisui was genuinely concerned over the look in her eyes. Internally, he said a prayer to the Nara heir. Shikamaru was a certified genius and Sakura held him in high regard, but that didn't stop Shisui from worrying about the lazy boy if this was the girl he was hanging around voluntarily.
Shikamaru going out of his way for Temari was practically a proposal in Sakura's eyes. Shisui found himself agreeing with her. But, damn, the Sand Princess could be terrifying.
When Temari bid her goodbyeI, she disappeared into the foliage. Shisui closed his eyes, able to fully focus his racing mind when silence fell onto them. He noted each of the friendly chakra presences in the area and, after taking a breath, settled a genjustu over the area that wouldn't affect any of his allies.
Shisui's eyes flickered over to Itachi, and frowned when he saw the slight imbalance in Itachi's stance.
"Is Katsuyu still with you?" Shisui asked, not waiting for an answer as he walked towards Itachi.
"For now," Itachi said. He reached a hand into his cloak and pulled it out a moment later, a slug in his palm. "Did the fighting make it difficult to heal me?"
The slug wiggled its body, before answering. "I've dealt with more strenuous battles before, Itachi-san. However, I fear the connection between Sakura-chan and I is growing weaker by the moment."
"She's been gone for ten minutes," Shisui said in a clipped tone. The slug turned its attention to him. "It's nice to see you again, Katsuyu. Thank you for healing our troublesome Hokage."
Katsuyu mumbled a few things, all of which Shisui has heard before. Katsuyu wasn't necessarily the one healing Itachi, but rather the vessel Sakura used to heal him constantly. And the pride the slug felt for the young medical ninja, who kept a perfectly steady flow that would fight Itachi's illness whenever it began to attack his body.
"Is she alive?" Shisui asked after a moment. He wished his voice would come out a little louder, not as hushed and vulnerable as he thought it sounded like. But the others in the area were busying themselves with sealing defeated reanimations or directing others towards whoever else may have sprung out of the ground.
"Sakura-chan is alive," Katsuyu confirmed. Shisui and Itachi let out a breath of relief. "But I'm afraid of the conditions she's undergoing at the moment."
"What do you mean?" Itachi prompted, suppressing a cough.
"Sakura-chan can summon me to her whenever she wants," Kastuyu said. "However, I'm afraid being summoned across dimensional planes is not something she's equipped to do long term. And right now, I'm functioning on auto-pilot, as Sakura-chan has stopped separating a steady flow of chakra."
"Stopped?" Shisui repeated. He and Itachi shared a look. "What does that mean?"
"Normally, Sakura-chan keeps a separate flow of chakra," Katsuyu answered. If slugs could look grim, Shisui was sure that's the expression she'd be making. "That pool is reserved for Itachi-san and is the one this fragment of myself is linked to. There's no longer a flow to that pool. I'll disappear once the chakra previously delegated runs out."
"Sakura-chan has perfected her chakra control," Itachi said with a frown. He thanked Kastuyu before placing her back into his cloak. "The chakra flow has never stopped before, even in her sleep. If it's been disrupted to an unmanageable degree. . ."
"Then Obito is screwing with her mind enough to utterly scramble it," Shisui finished. He let out a controlled breath of air. "We need to go back home. We don't know how many reanimations there are or where they're popping up."
Part of him already expected there to be enemies in Konoha. Part of him wondered if his old rival was revived. He had been an exceptional shinobi, despite not belonging to a clan.
But his rival was barely a teenager when he had died. When Shisui hesitated in helping him, and he was killed. Shisui closed his eyes as the memory played at the forefront of his mind.
But his rival had just been a kid. Obito probably had some standards, right?
"Sakura-chan said we have to ensure Naruto becomes a true Jinchūriki," Itachi said in a low voice. Shisui opened his eyes and looked at him. "And she mentioned a Kurama. Do you think that's the Nine Tailed Beast's name?"
"Probably," Shisui said. "Sakura-chan would be the one to know the name of an ancient beast.
A moment of silence fell between the two, when Gaara re-emerged from the tree line. Two floating pods of sands followed him, black lines surrounding the bodies contained by a seal. He was holding a hand over his left eye.
"We can ensure everything is handled here," Gaara said, his single open eye flickering towards the building. "The samuri and other Kages are disposing of the Sound Village ninja as we speak. Temari is attempting to uncover Deidara. I have a feeling this was only a warning."
"It's the first act in a shinobi war," Shisui said in a wry tone. "With an Uchiha at the helm, you can expect it to only get worse."
The Uchiha had a flair for the dramatic, after all.
"All the more reason to go back to your village," Gaara said with a nod. "Konoha is being targeted specifically because an Uchiha is the one leading this war. Orochimaru is not innocent in this act, either. The others may not like the fact that this war is partially previous grudges against Konoha, but they know they have to band together if they don't want one of the last Tailed Beast to fall into the Akatsuki's hands."
"I'd be surprised if we didn't get billed for the damages this war will have," Itachi said, the amusement in his tone barely there. "We'll head back now, if you're sure we won't be needed here."
Gaara looked Itachi up and down before frowning. "Any energy you spend should be in an effort to stop Naruto from making any stupid decision. I don't pretend to have any medical knowledge, but as we studied Sakura's chakra signature, I noticed yours was being supplied by an external force. One supplied by Sakura's healing chakra."
"I'll be mindful of who I tell, but you must understand that the Kages are exceptional shinobi," Gaara continued. "I would not be surprised if they came to the same conclusion as myself. And unlike Suna, the other villages hold no alliance to Konoha once this war is over."
"We'll keep it in mind," Itachi said as he inclined his head. "Send a message with any updates."
"So long as we don't have a war at each of our front steps," Gaara said. "We will hold another meeting to gather our forces and divide the talent pool into division. I'll send a hawk with whatever is decided. Good luck."
Shisui waited for Itachi to wish the same, before he clasped a hand on Itachi's shoulder and headed for home.
Sasuke was taking in staggered breathes, his back pressed against Naruto's as they collapsed against each other.
"What the hell is happening?" Naruto asked. "Why do you have so many dead family members? This is ridiculous, ya know."
"Some forbidden jutsu," Sasuke answered. He watched as Neji applied a seal onto another body. "Pretty sure it was the second Hokage's jutsu. We should be thankful he hasn't been reanimated, along with the rest of the Hokages."
"That's the last one for now," Neji said in a loud voice. He walked towards the pair and looked down at them. "Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino have led Asuma away from the village and Kurenai. I've counted approximately another dozen battles going on right now."
"One on one battles?" Sasuke asked and received a nod as an answer.
"Why'd we get two dozen each then?" Naruto asked, knocking his head against Sasuke's. Sasuke was quick to turn around and punch the idiot in the shoulder.
They both glared at each other.
"If this is an act of war from the Akatsuki," Neji said, ignoring the two growling at each other. "It's likely you're a target, Naruto. If it's from Orochimaru, then Sasuke is the likely target. You both could be if Orochimaru had allied himself with the Akatsuki. There's a number of reasons as to why you both have been targeted with a large amount of assailants, hence why I'm here instead of being with my clan."
"Oh, right," Naruto said in a defeated tone. "I forgot about that for a moment."
"Can you find Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.
Neji raised an eyebrow. "Yes, but why?"
"Kakashi was the other candidate for Hokage," Sasuke answered with a frown. "My brother, cousin, and Sakura are all away from the village. Kakashi is the one we go to for directives."
Neji nodded and activated his Byakugōn. He scanned the village before it seemed he found Kakashi.
"Tsunade-sama's tent," Neji said. "I'll come with you two."
"Great," Sasuke muttered, his voice low enough that only Naruto heard him. He got a punch in the shoulder as the idiot moved to get up.
Once they got to the tent, Sasuke felt familiar chakra heading their way. He paused before the tent flap and turned around.
He frowned when he counted only two signatures.
"Sasuke?" Naruto asked, still holding the tent flap open for him. "Why are you just staring off into the distance?"
"Itachi and Shisui are back," Sasuke said, taking a step away from the tent. He tried to search for the achingly familiar chakra signature, but he couldn't find even a trace of it. Not even from Katsuyu, who had been attached to Itachi since the Pain incident. He couldn't detect the slug at all, actually.
"Sakura-chan is back?" Naruto said, his excitement palpable. The blonde joined Sasuke at his side, despite Neji's protest.
"No," Sasuke shook his head and narrowed his gaze. The signatures disappeared again, only to reappear within the village's borders. "Just Itachi and Shisui."
Sasuke already knew what the truth was when the pair finally appeared right before them. Shisui was holding Itachi up, who looked more drained than anything. Sasuke searched for any wounds they might have, but came up with only scrapes of dirt and ash.
"You're back!" Naruto greeted with a smile. After a moment, he seemed to notice exactly what Sasuke was afraid to acknowledge. "Where's Sakura-chan?"
"Let's head inside," Itachi said, gesturing towards the tent. He looked far more pale and the poor attempt of a reassuring smile made Sasuke's frown deepen.
"Where's Sakura?" Sasuke repeated the question, this time looking at Shisui.
His cousin's expression darkened.
"Itachi said to head inside," Shisui said. "Listen to him."
"No," Sasuke refused. "Tell us where Sakura is."
"The village is fighting reanimated loved ones and you're acting like a stubborn brat," Shisui said, his tone just as harsh as his words. "Have you even considered the information is too sensitive for prying eyes and ears?"
Sasuke glared at his cousin, who held nothing back as he stared back. He's only seen him this angry once before, when Shisui was pissed about something Sasuke had done. Well, what he assumed Sakura's original Sasuke had done.
"Fine," Sasuke conceded, if more for the tired expression his brother wore than anything Shisui had said. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm and dragged him inside the tent. "C'mon."
Naruto was fortunately dumbfounded enough to not say anything else.
Whatever it was, Sasuke was sure it was much worse than loved ones being reanimated within the village walls.