When Sakura came to, her vision was blurry, and her head was aching.
When she tried to adjust her eyes to the surroundings, she could make out dark silhouettes of trees and leaves, with the shining moonlight as the only illumination. It was a crescent, she saw as she looked closely.
The next thing she noted was the light from a campfire. She hadn't noticed it since it was in her peripheral vision, but when she craned her head slightly to the side, she could see a few figures huddled near the burning firewood, seemingly arguing amongst themselves. Even in this darkness, she could make out Naruto's bright, spiky blond hair, even though it was bathed in dark-blue hues. She couldn't recognize who the others were at the moment, but the dull pain at the back of her head brought her back to reality.
'What happened...?' she wondered to herself, faintly recalling bits and pieces of cruel, dull green eyes and a merciless earthen fist. It reminded her of how helpless she was, especially back when they fought that goddess—
Wait—
Sakura instantly sat up, strongly ignoring the aching response coming from both her body and her head. Her mind was spinning, but her hearing was perfectly fine, for she clearly heard the voices around the campfire come to an abrupt stop at her sudden action.
She was about to turn her head towards them when she suddenly felt a cold hand press against her forehead.
"Don't exert yourself," a painfully familiar voice drifted into her ears, causing her heart to throb in response. That voice belonged to the one whom she had been searching for, the one who she wanted to save so desperately. The one who tried to destroy her village, but also the one who helped them fight against the woman who wanted to destroy the entire world.
"Sasuke-kun!" she immediately cried, finding his figure and wrapping her arms around his neck, tears streaming down her face.
"H—Hey!" he cried out, and she noticed that his voice was actually quite high-pitched than what she remembered, and less deep.
But she knew that it was still him.
"L—Let go," he said, almost weakly, as he rested a hand on her shoulder. "Sakura. You're... holding on too tight."
"Oh! Sorry!" she apologized, instantly letting go of him. Blinking back the tears, she stared at him. This time, taking him in fully. Seven years old, with chubby cheeks and wide black eyes. He was so cute, but she held herself back, for everything seemed to finally click inside her mind.
"Wait, is this the pa—?!"
A hand instantly cupped her mouth, silencing her words. Almost at the same time but lagging by a fraction of a second, another hand joined in, this time by her other teammate.
Both of them looked at her with imploring expressions on their faces, and Sakura could see Sasuke's head shaking slightly, a 'no' signal.
Sakura understood and kept her mouth shut, but her mind was still reeling.
"Sakura-san!" Lee's voice drifted into her ears, his voice laced with concern. "Are you feeling all right?!"
"Lee, don't pressure her," Tenten said almost immediately, as if she had expected him to say it. "She only just woke up."
Lee instantly looked apologetic. "I... I am sorry for my rudeness...!"
"Sakura," Neji piped up, his pale eyes resting their gaze on her. "Did you have something you wanted to say?"
Sensing that it was safe, Sasuke and Naruto retracted their hands, still looking at Sakura with resolute expressions.
"O—Oh..." she stammered, swallowing the lump in her throat. "N—Nothing! Nothing at all." She slapped herself internally. Why was she stuttering? It was suspicious!
But she was caught off-guard by everything. All of it still didn't make sense. Why were they here, in the past? They had been one step away towards defeating Kaguya with their impressive teamwork, and now... time rewound? It didn't make sense at all!
"I see," Neji responded, though his gaze still never left her. Sakura stared back, almost hesitantly, but for a different reason.
'Oh God...' she thought to herself, her heart jumping in her chest. 'He's alive... Neji's alive... Oh God...'
'If this is real... If all this really is real, then...!'
Too deep in her escalating thoughts, she didn't even notice Naruto scooting closer to her, his arm reaching out towards her shoulder. When she noticed his movement, he was already gripping her upper arm, staring at her with such deep emotion in his eyes that she felt her own get teary.
In their angle, Naruto had his back towards Team 9, while Sakura was the one whose head was facing them. Sasuke, on the other hand, was quietly observing the two of them at the sidelines, his arms folded across his chest. When she inadvertently chanced a glimpse at him, his expression was unreadable, but it was evident by the lack of tightness on his features that he was not at all uncomfortable.
It even seemed a little like he was glad... to have her back.
"Sakura-chan," Naruto said, his voice trembling slightly. "I'm... so glad you're okay."
As the words left his mouth, he unexpectedly wrapped his arms around her, giving her a tight embrace. Sakura, stunned by his action, had her whole body frozen in surprise, her eyes wide. She could see Team 9 politely looking away from their display of affection, talking to themselves quietly while poking the firewood to give off more heat.
And then Sakura heard Naruto's voice, so quiet, but since his lips were near her ear, she could hear him as clear as day.
"Sakura-chan... I know it's all overwhelming right now," he said lowly, yet his tone was still soft, still affectionate, "but we can't talk about this right now... Not while we're with them. But I promise you... we will talk about this. The three of us... You, me... and Sasuke. Team 7."
Her heart skipped a beat. Tears filled her eyes, an emotion washing over her body as she gratefully hugged him back, her arms wrapping around his limbs as she sobbed openly.
When she responded to him, her voice was shaky, but it was soft, so soft that only he could hear.
"Thank you, Naruto... Thank you so much...!"
He didn't know what she was thanking him for, but she knew. There were tons of things she was grateful to him for, for all the times he saved the village, the times he went so far for his friends, for the village, and all the hardships he went through just to follow his dreams.
She may not love him the way she'd always loved Sasuke, but he didn't know yet, that he was the one she admired the most.
"I promised I'd bring him back, didn't I?" She could hear the smile in his voice. "Promise of a lifetime."
• • •
By the time Chōji came to his senses, he was tied to a large tree trunk, the darkness greeting his vision. He blinked several times to adjust to the dimness, trying to remember how he had gotten into this situation in the first place.
'Shikamaru... Ino...!' he thought to himself in panic. 'Where are they...?!'
"You awake, Chōji?" As if reading his thoughts, Shikamaru's flat voice drifted into his ears. "I can hear you squirming in your rope."
"Shikamaru?!" Chōji exclaimed. "Wh—What happened? A—And where's Ino?"
"Here," replied Ino's equally flat voice, seemingly coming from his left.
"Well, long story short," Shikamaru said casually, "we got beat up."
"H—Huh?!"
"Yeah," Ino muttered irritably. "You were lucky you just got knocked out, Chōji. Shikamaru and I had to become a training dummy for those three Grass freaks."
"Th—They were that strong?" Chōji gulped, fear creeping up his chest.
"Unfortunately, yeah," Shikamaru responded, sounding monotonous. "Before I could even concoct a plan, they were right onto us before we could notice them."
"Which was all your fault, Shikamaru!" Ino berated. "If you hadn't tripped on that invisible wire—"
"Which I wouldn't have tripped on if you hadn't kept on chasing after them," Shikamaru countered.
"Look, we were out of their range!" Ino said angrily. "They only noticed us because you triggered that trap!"
"Ino, they already knew we were following them even before I activated that explosion," Shikamaru argued.
"Oh hell no! Don't you dare blame me, you—"
"Guys, guys!" Chōji said. "Stop it! Arguing's not gonna get us anywhere..."
"Chōji's right," Shikamaru agreed immediately. "We need to make a plan."
"We're lucky not one of our scrolls was what they wanted!" Ino said, annoyed. "But they threw them away to who-knows-where! And these ropes trigger traps, too! How're we gonna get outta here, huh, smartass?"
A tic mark appeared on Shikamaru's temple. "If you'd just keep quiet, blondie," he gritted out, "I'd have already made a good strategy!"
"Hah!" Ino stuck her tongue out at him. "As if your lousy strategies will work, pea-brain!"
Chōji sighed to himself as his two teammates started arguing childishly again.
Clasping his hands together in the form of a seal, he decided to resolve this one himself. "Baika no Jutsu!"
Ino squeaked as the ropes binding the three of them to the large tree instantly broke off due to her teammate's growing size. "Ch—Chōji!" she cried out. "Don't! The trap will—"
As soon as the words left her mouth, she heard a sizzling sound coming nearby, indicating that the explosive traps were activating. However, before their team could take the brunt of the impact, Chōji's large hands found the tree trunk and grabbed it upwards, pulling it out of its roots. Then he moved in front of his teammates and used the trunk as a shield.
Shikamaru stared. 'All in the span of a few seconds... Chōji's improved a lot,' he marveled.
When the explosion ended, Chōji put the trunk down, facing his team with an innocent smile. "What do we do now, Shikamaru?"
Ino grinned, patting Chōji on the back. "Whoa, Chōji! You were so cool!"
A blush appeared on Chōji's cheeks and he rubbed the back of his head in shy embarrassment. "Hehehe…"
"Now that we're safe, we should go after them again," Shikamaru said, fiddling with his kunai pouch. "But first, we should make a strategy." He eyed Ino, who was staring at him with folded arms. "What do we know about their abilities so far?"
Ino shrugged, looking irritated. "I know for a fact that the girl named Riku could use a few Earth techniques." Then her eyes narrowed as she recalled the humiliating memory. "She's clever, too."
"And the two guys are good with their taijutsu," Shikamaru added. "When both of them jumped on me, I couldn't stand a chance."
"They were that strong?" Chōji exclaimed. "And taijutsu is your weakest point, Shikamaru…"
A heavy blush coated Shikamaru's cheeks. "Sh—Shut up," he snapped, embarrassed. "Anyway, we gotta go after them after we find our scrolls. Otherwise, we'll never pass."
"But didn't they tell those Sand Ninjas earlier that they'll be forfeiting the Exam since they couldn't get their scroll from them?" asked Chōji, confused. "Why would they fight us so seriously?"
"I don't know, either!" Ino said, highly annoyed now as she puffed her cheeks childishly. "We tried to make a peace agreement with them, but when they found out that we witnessed their humiliating defeat, they wanted to prove that Grass ninjas are better than Konoha ninjas!"
"I agree that it's a childish competition, but if that's how they want to play, then we'll take them seriously," Shikamaru said flatly. He stared at each of his teammates in the eye, nodding. "We'll go with the Ino-Shika-Chō formation."
Finally, a smirk graced Ino's features. "Now that's what I'm talking about."
Shikamaru grinned. "Let's go, Team 10!"
• • •
By the time the sun rose, illuminating the forest, Team 7 was already up and about. Sasuke and Sakura went to find a nearby water source while Naruto kept watch along with Neji, who was occasionally sending him suspicious glances. Apparently, the latter still wasn't convinced of this alliance's loyalty, and Naruto couldn't blame him. Neji was, after all, a stickler for the rules, and he was no stranger to competition. In fact, Neji strived for accomplishment and trusted no one except for his teammates.
Lee was already waking, stretching all the while. Tenten, on the other hand, was still asleep.
'I think one of the things I'm grateful about this time travel phenomenon we're in,' Naruto thought to himself, 'is that we get the chance to save our friends.' He glanced at Neji's way. 'I'm so happy to see him again…'
Flashbacks of Neji's fallen body during the war stabbed Naruto in the chest. He didn't want to see his friend die like that again. No, never. Never would he let Neji die just because of some ridiculous ideology some people had. Obito, despite being apparently misguided, was still a dangerous man who wanted to cast them all into an eternal genjutsu. Uchiha Madara was still a threat, and would always be if Kabuto proceeded once more with the Edo Tensei technique, and everything would lead them back to Kaguya once more.
'And that damned black blob…' Naruto's eyes narrowed, anger like no other seeping into his chest. 'Black Zetsu.'
'Someday…' He stared at his hands. Small, young, and free of bruises. 'I'll be strong enough to bring down the Akatsuki again. With the help of all my friends!'
'I won't let you all down.'
• • •
Sasuke didn't want to admit it, but he felt uncomfortable.
Not in a negative way, of course. Uncomfortable in a manner that he became a bit fidgety, something that was unlike him.
Because Sakura wasn't talking. At all.
As he glanced at her silent form, filling all their canteens with water, he noted that she didn't seem angry, even though that in itself was impossible. He clearly saw how happy she was when she hugged Naruto last night, and the way her eyes roamed over his face as if she were seeing him again for the first time. With her teary eyes and bright smile, she brought a wave of reassurance to both him and Naruto. Not only was she extremely useful to have around, but she had also always been the mediator between the two, as well as a good voice of reason. Having her back as well chased away the uncertainties he and Naruto first had back when they were beginning to awaken their memories.
Because it just didn't feel the same when Team 7 wasn't together.
'As for Kakashi…' Sasuke's mind wandered. 'So far, he doesn't seem to remember anything.'
'Another thing that's bothering me…' He threw another kunai, hitting a swimming fish dead in the center. 'Is that this doesn't feel like the same world we had in the past. Everyone seems different somehow.'
Not that he had spent much time with the Rookie 9, but back then, they were all definitely amateurs, and they all lacked the same thing: the true experience of the shinobi world.
It was like, just because the Fourth Hokage and his wife didn't die, everything changed somewhat.
'It's definitely beneficial for us to have Naruto's parents by our side,' Sasuke thought to himself, hitting another fish right before it could escape from his sight. 'Since they're both powerful allies.'
'And… as for my clan…'
"Sasuke-kun?"
Sakura's voice suddenly brought him back to reality. Dropping the new kunai he was gripping in his hand, he swirled his head towards her, his eyes wide and blinking.
Caught off-guard by the look on Sasuke's startled face, Sakura blinked back rapidly, then fell to her knees, laughing.
Realizing what he had just done, Sasuke's face turned red, then he hastily grabbed his kunai from the stream, not finding the courage to look at her. 'Ugh… so embarrassing…'
Sakura was still laughing, but she sobered up quickly when she noticed that Sasuke was pointedly ignoring her. Choking back her mirth, she approached him, the vestiges of a chuckle evident in her eyes.
"S—Sorry, Sasuke-kun," she apologized, but the light humor in her tone betrayed her.
Sasuke craned his head towards her as he finished gathering the dead fishes on multiple lines, the blush fading, but still there. "What is it?" he asked crossly.
Sakura was undeterred by his grumpy attitude. "It's just that you looked so cute when you were surprised!" she exclaimed, letting a few giggles slip from her lips. "I didn't mean to, though. What were you thinking so deeply about?"
Sasuke turned away, walking ahead of her. "Nothing," he responded, wanting to forget about his humiliation as soon as possible.
As he strode towards the trees, he noticed that Sakura went silent once more. Fearing that he had crossed a line with his slightly pettish attitude, he whirled his head towards her way.
"Sakura," he called out, his tone softer this time.
This time, it seemed that Sakura was the one who was snapped out of her thoughts. "O—Oh," she said lamely, trying to mask the fact that she was surprised. "S—Sorry, I was just…"
Sasuke looked at her, studying her eyes. "…You don't have to apologize," he said quietly, stopping in his tracks to regard her fully. "What is it?"
When she looked at him hesitantly in response, he spoke once more.
"You look like you have something to say."
Sakura managed a nod. "Y—Yeah… I mean… Sasuke-kun," she said, her voice slowly becoming steadier by the minute. "Um… how long have you…?"
'How long…?' he thought to himself, puzzled.
Then it clicked.
"Ah. It was when we were just starting at the Academy," he answered honestly.
"Oh…" she said. "That's way back then…" She wasn't looking at him. "What about Naruto…?"
"After the bell test Kakashi gave us," he replied without missing a beat.
Sakura went silent. Sasuke stared at her, noting the way her fingers were fidgeting with each other.
"And… Kakashi-sensei…?" she said finally.
Sasuke shook his head. "We don't think he remembers anything."
"Ah…"
He looked at her. "Sakura, what's wrong?"
Startled, her head snapped towards him, her eyes wide. "N—Nothing!" she said hastily, fiddling with her fingers again.
This time, Sasuke stared at her for a long while. Sakura averted her gaze, not wanting to be subjected to his scrutiny.
She didn't like this feeling. She didn't want to be a burden to her team at all, but she couldn't shake away the feeling of having been left out. It was childish, she knew, but she couldn't help it. The thought of Naruto and Sasuke already knowing what to do, already having each other's backs early on, while she kept on chasing immature fantasies, made her feel a bit guilty and ashamed.
It was ridiculous, but she couldn't ignore the feeling. It was like having both her older and younger self colliding, leaving her confused about her own current identity.
And now, as the revelation of what was truly happening slowly dawned upon her, she found herself wanting to know more and more about her teammates' feelings. Were they as scared and excited as she was? Were they even afraid of what was going to happen now, with the ripples of time disrupting the original timeline? Were they even relieved to have her here?
She wanted to talk to them so badly. She wanted to strategize, to analyze every bit of what was happening in the skewed timeline they were in. She wanted to draw up theories as to why an event came about, and what sort of path they were going to take from now on.
And worse, as she thought deeply about it, she didn't even know what Sasuke's motivations were right now.
The last time they interacted, they were battling against Kaguya. And before that, he had been talking about becoming Hokage, when what she knew beforehand was that he wanted to destroy Konoha.
With a start, she realized that she was wary of him now.
'But his family is alive…' she thought to herself, concern taking up every fiber of her being as she fought not to meet his probing gaze. 'It would make sense that he wants to protect the village now…'
'But… Itachi…'
She bit her lip, remembering how kind Sasuke's older brother had always been to her whenever they had one of their rare interactions.
'Uchiha Itachi…'
'What is the truth?'
'What am I going to do… if Sasuke-kun… hasn't changed what he wanted to do…?'
She bit her lip. 'Then… I'll—'
Suddenly, a hand placed itself on her trembling fingers, wrapping around them and ceasing their fidgety movements.
Sakura's head snapped up to meet Sasuke's dark eyes.
"What's wrong?" he repeated. His voice was soft.
And she felt her walls crumbling down in an instant.
Her courage rose, and she blurted out:
"We—We're friends, right?!" she said, eyes wide and imploring. "Sasuke-kun?"
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tbc