All she wanted was to be of help. To be strong enough to stand side by side with those who protected her and to return the favor. That was the only real desire for Sakura. And for a moment she thought she had succeeded. This was meant to be a great ending, where three friends united, fighting together in a war against a god-like being, saving the world, and more importantly each other. It was only supposed to take one touch to end this battle. And Sakura was willing to take the plunge as she had been paid little attention to and therefore was in the best position to strike and stall the opponent for a split second. That all they needed and she wanted to give it to them.
As usual, however, she didn't consider the price of her actions.
The Fourth Shinobi War. Her first war, and what she hoped would be her last. All ninja banned together, putting aside their histories to defeat a greater enemy. And after all the bloodshed and loss it looked like things were finally coming to an end. The final obstacle as it were; she, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi; her team, her friend's; her family. They were finally about to put an end to this war together.
Her strength was supposed to be near unrivaled, but of course, against something that was defined as a god, what did she expect? Still, it was satisfying when she brought her fist down on the horn of the white-haired women Kaguya. Hearing it crack.
"Now Naruto!" the raven-haired Uchiha called from her right, barely acknowledging her appearance, focused only on the task of sealing away the being between all of them. Naruto on her left striking the same extended pose as Sasuke as they drew near and finally their palms landing simultaneously on her shoulders.
'Finally,' Sakura couldn't believe it was over.
Or so she thought until a long line of silver filled her vision and a burning hot filling a chest, lined with a painful cold and her mouth filled with the taste of iron. She looked down at the heap of hair that had impaled her, so focused that she had missed the black behind her and had no choice but to fall back. Barely hearing her name being called with alarm. Likely for the last time.
There was lava in her sight, enclosed in darkness and rock, the heat hitting her without physical contact and then there was snow, an atmosphere of white and wind, instantly cooling her to the point where she wished for the heat again, there were mountains, a world of acid that threatened to splash all over her and then a desert where she could taste sand even from the air; it was all in passing surrounded with black as if they were pictures in frames. It was almost like when running, catching nothing but blurs only this time she could feel the environment of those images-and then nothing but darkness. Yet she continued to feel herself falling; her limbs incapable of movement against the force generated, her neck craned forcefully and painfully back. There was no time for her to breathe and what was left of her lungs were starting to burn after several minutes without oxygen.
'Am I going to die?'
She wasn't scared, as much as she was disappointed. It was like she had just been able to peer at the finish line before she tripped, blundered, and lost sight of it again. There were probably many others who had felt the same way. Maybe she would find some sympathizes on the other side. Maybe some of her comrades were waiting for her. Or maybe she was going to wake up all alone. Either way, she knew that she wouldn't be able to see Naruto or Sasuke. At least they would have a chance to keep living.
With that in mind, she became content.
Due to her ordeal, she failed at first to see the stars in the night sky that appeared suddenly, she didn't feel the cold air or the wind whipping across her face, hitting her with her hair and thankfully she also didn't feel the hard ground that she crashed heavily into, imprinting herself in the earth.
It took a few minutes before the pain finally settled over her body, but she was relieved that the sensation of falling had finally stopped and there was no longer a shifting change in the air. Everything was still.
She didn't know how much time passed as she slipped in and out of consciousness constantly. Her body refused to move, but it felt like something was crawling around in her chest enough to make her shiver, then the heat in her chest dimming to a calming warmth that was beginning to become comforting. She couldn't see the hole in her chest shifting, the skin and muscle forming under the bright glow of chakra, the hairs snaking around her, stopping the bleeding.
While she could barely take in a breath she still held on; as if she was in the early stages of drowning, where you were in complete agony, wanting to breathe but refusing to open your mouth to inhale water, the inside of your head expanding like it was ready to burst. All she could hold onto was the warmth in her chest, as the rest of her body went cold.
But then she heard the ear-piercing sirens ringing through her; shortly after, there were red and blue flashes of light and she could have sworn she heard voices, and footsteps but her senses were dull due to her injuries.
"Over here!"
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"Call an amb…..
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"Don…asleep!"
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"Hold on!"
She tried to keep her eyes open, but when the world started moving again, and blurred silhouettes started appearing, and she felt herself moving without a will, she didn't want to stay awake anymore and finally gave in to the short relief of unconsciousness.
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When Sakura began to come out of the darkness, all she felt was pain, her head throbbed so hard she could hear it, like someone was taking a hammer and beating her skull from the inside, her vision blurred and was dominantly white. As she moved her fingers, feeling something on one of them, pinching down. She looked down and saw a pulse oximetry and then felt the oxygen mask around her face; overlooking her body she found herself wearing nothing but a thin-papery gown. She then allowed her eyes to wander further.
The aesthetics of the room and a strong smell of disinfectant proved she was in a hospital, but she didn't know exactly where this hospital was located. There was a window but the blinds hid the outside. It appeared to be early afternoon judging from the light visible through the cracks.
'Where are my clothes?' There wasn't any closet, aside from the small dresser at the bed but that was empty.
Sakura glanced over at the equipment she was strapped on, which almost looked like life support, with an oxygen machine, heart monitor, and IV. It was a bit different from the equipment she worked with but it seemed to have more or less the same functions. She just wanted to unstrap herself from all of it. She pulled out the drips from her arms and then went to the oximetry, while the machine went off to alert the detachment.
Seconds only passed before the door flew open and the doctor stepped in with haste. "Ah, you're awake. How are you feeling?"
She didn't respond, watching cautiously as a middle-aged man in a doctor's coat walked around the room, at the end of the bed to get a chart clipped on. Likely in the late thirties or early forties, with dark hair slowly beginning to grey, a light stubble with a lean build.
"I'm Dr. Harada,"
Again, Sakura didn't respond. If she was expected to be taken to a hospital, she would have thought it'd be the one in her village where everyone would know her but since she wasn't, she felt unusually cautious.
"Ah good she's awake," Another individual had entered the room but Sakura didn't see them at first over Dr. Harada's shoulder, that was because of this person's height.
There was an elderly woman; gray hair styled into a netted bun, a large syringe poking diagonally out of it to the left, with close drawn eyes. In a doctor's lab coat and a dress and had a helmet around the sides of her head, a purple-tinted visor joining it over her eyes. Which were narrowing in on Sakura.
"But you shouldn't remove those drips dear, you still need them and monitoring,"
Harada nodded, "That's right, we've been overseeing your progress these last five days and I think that it's too soon for such-
"Five days?" Sakura blurted.
"So you can speak," The doctor gave a small smile, but he approached with caution but it was likely more on her behalf. "Yes, you've been unconscious for the last five days,"
Sakura began investigating her injuries, but she couldn't find any at all. "W-What happened to me?"
The doctor and unnamed women stared at Sakura a moment longer than necessary before he walked over to the side of her bed, "That's what we were hoping you would tell us, but perhaps after a reexamination just to access your condition. Recovery girl, would you mind?"
The women shook her head, "Of course not,"
Sakura tilted her head, unable to shake off the strange name, "Recovery….girl that's your name?"
"That's right dear," but then she noted the baffled expression on the pinkette's face and came to understand what she was insinuating, "Oh my real name is Chiyo Shuzenji, Recovery girl is my hero name,"
"Huh?" Sakura couldn't stop herself but it seemed that she wouldn't receive further explanation at this point. "Chiyo-san?"
"Well if it's more comforting to use my first name that's fine. Are you hungry?"
"Not really," She hadn't eaten in five days but she wasn't.
"Well still you should eat, I'll get a nurse to bring you something, but first I need to do a quick examination and ask some questions,"
The examination didn't concern, Sakura as knew how it was performed and what was expected. But when she had to disrobe she almost fell over and rushed to the mirror at the sink in the corner of the room.
Around the center of her chest, contrasting against even her skin was a near sickly pale white patch latching onto her skin, twisting and formed grotesquely. A similar image but a smaller contraction was also near the small of her back. And she remembered the wound that was now healed, the wound that should have ended her life in that instant.
'Impossible,'
She didn't understand where she was still and there was a nagging knot slowly beginning to tangle in the pit of her stomach as more time passed but she didn't know if it was placed.
Chiyo was speechless when she saw it as well, "My word, that scar…..who would do such a thing?"
The pinkette didn't say anything, only lightly brushing her fingers over the mark to ensure that it was real, it's texture softer than it appeared.
'What the hell?'
Though a scar on her chest was the least of her worries, it still lingered.
As promised; after the examination Recovery Girl had a meal brought up for her, and the scent brought her hunger to surface. It was just a chicken sandwich and a bottle of juice since too much food in her state could make her sick, but she didn't complain when there was also a small chocolate bar set on the side of the tray.
"How did I end up here?" Sakura wiped her mouth feeling a smudge of mayo on the side. Recovery girl had been sitting on the side of her bed patiently waiting for her to finish without disrupting her meal but she had questions for her.
"You were found near a lake by the bridge; it's only a few kilometers away from the hospital and a good thing too. Eraser head found you and immediately called for an ambulance."
Sakura squinted her eyes, "Eraser head?"
Chiyo paused, "He's the hero who found you. I suppose you wouldn't know him since he prefers working discretely,"
It was just the name that baffled her, but now Sakura was questioning a few other things, what was she referring to?
"He'll probably be coming in with the investigator tomorrow,"
"A who?" Sakura leaned in; something didn't sound right about this. Investigator in her experience
meant interrogator and interrogation which didn't bode well for a ninja.
"Oh don't worry, he just wants to ask you some questions about what happened to you, and probably your information so that we can contact a family member to come here and get you,"
Sakura made a small noise to acknowledge she heard what she said but she couldn't quite understand and decided to push back all the other questions she had to ask a simple one.
"Where exactly is here?"
"Musutafu city,"
There was a visible show of fright that didn't go unnoticed.
"Where is that?" Sakura asked the knot in her stomach grew a little bigger with anxiety.
"Japan, near Tokyo," Chiyo said slower, watching the girl carefully for her reaction.
Sakura just sat there silently, covering her mouth with her hand. Her head throbbing as she thought hard about what happened that might have led her to this situation. She remembers the war, and she remembers fighting with Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi against Kaguya and then she was stabbed, she was falling and-
Shooting from the bed, Sakura rushed over to the window to open the blinds, wincing at the intensity of light the setting sun would give before surrendering to the night. Sakura saw the outside of the hospital but further ahead there were many buildings with an unfamiliar design towering most of the area.
With the few pieces she had right now, Sakura was beginning to get a clear picture of her situation as she recalled what happened again. And much more detail.
"Oh, no…."
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When Recovery girl saw Sakura about ready to jump into a state of hysteria, she quickly withdrew and told her to rest for the night and to call if she needed anything and that she would inform Dr. Harada as well. She thought it best to give her some time to calm down before questioning her further and also decided that she may need to perform a CAT scan because she was no longer certain if her mental state hadn't suffered any trauma based on a few quick (yet accurate) medical analysis.
Sakura had dinner and was then left alone for the rest of the night, with a nurse silently checking in on her every hour. But Sakura was too engrossed in thoughts. While it was a difficult situation to swallow, it was certainly possible from recent experience that she had been transported into another dimension by Kaguya's power. The only difference was there was actually life in this world, a society but she still didn't know very much about it. Which was why she managed to gather herself enough not to ask about how to get back to her home. She came off as suspicious enough.
It couldn't be that Kaguya had planned to escape to this world right? It didn't look like it made for much of a battleground. But now Sakura was stuck here. She didn't want to say for certain that she was in another world but every time she glanced out her window, it was seeming more plausible.
And if she was in another world, there was just one dreadful thought that came to mind.
'How the hell am I going to get back home?'
Another issue was whether or not she should stay in the hospital and wait for that investigator or if she should just try and figure things out on her own. She managed to stall for time with doctor Harada and Chiyo-Recovery Girl-whatever, but that wouldn't be for long. She was starting to doubt revealing her identity in detail.
'I need some air,'
Taking a robe, she wrapped herself up put on the hospital slippers, and carefully stalked out of the room.
Ensuring her steps were completely silent and remaining vigilant for the night-shift faculty, she made her way to the bottom floor to get to the exit. The large glass sliding doors came into view, Sakura watched as the automatic doors opened when someone left and then turned to the reception desk. There was a woman in scrubs behind, holding a small metal device in her hands, her face glowing from the light emitted by it. Whatever she was looking at, she was distracted.
Sakura smirked, picking up a pebble from one of the fake potted plants decorating the reception and waiting area and returned to hiding behind the corner. Pinching the stone between the top of her thumb and under her index finger she flicked it forward. The pebble shot across the receptionist's desk and crashed into the wall at the opposite end of the room.
With the window of opportunity open, Sakura went through with ease, taking her time as she passed the woman who wasn't even aware of her presence. Silent as a ninja she stepped, the sliding doors opened and she was out before the women looked back when hearing the sound.
"Ah, that's nice," Sakura stretched her arms, enjoying the cool night air against her skin. She looked up at the sky; there were few stars to admire and the moon was nowhere to be seen, unlike in Konoha where the moon was so big and bright she could see it completely from her room's window.
She could also view the buildings from a different angle, they were different from the buildings at her home-in her world. These were made dominantly of glass and concrete instead of wood or clay and shaped like rectangles.
She was trying to convince herself of the slight possibility that she was still in her world, but it was almost nonexistent. There were too many oddities she spotted to believe this was the same place. Her world would be returning from war. It wouldn't be this bright.
'This can't be my world,' Sakura told herself. She wanted to explore this place, get a better understanding of the kind of world she was in, however with being confined to a hospital bed she couldn't really do that and certainly not with the way she was dressed.
She took several minutes to just sit by the benches outside and enjoy the night air till she grew tired or at least until someone spotted and dragged her back inside. However, neither happened because first, Sakura heard a frantic noise she didn't recognize; then the vehicle that came swerving towards the hospital. It had the hospital symbol on it.
The back doors of the van swung open and people were rushing out, taking a stretcher through with them. She heard the muffled and pained screams of the person on the stretcher and caught the distinct smell of burning flesh. There was a man covered in red and black chard, screaming, his face barely visible and it was clear he had on fire and from her judgment a long while before it was put out.
Sakura followed the ambulance back into the hospital with the man who was in complete hysterics screams now bouncing off the walls. Of course, no one could blame him, after all nearly his entire body, which increased the chance of fatality.
"We need to start treatment here!" one of the paramedics called.
"What happened?" asked the receptionist.
"Apartment fire downtown, everyone got out except this one,"
"Let's move him to the ER,"
The receptionist who had run on the outside of her desk then spotted Sakura standing near the table and went over, grabbing her arm, she recognized the pinkette because she saw her brought in a few days ago.
"Miss what are you doing out of your-
Sakura rushed over to the stretcher, passing the ambulance, "Stop, I can help!"
When the paramedics looked back and saw the young pinkette, they returned to pushing the burn victim through the hospital with Sakura tailing after them.
"Leave this to us kid," one commented.
Sakura picked up her pace, grabbing hold of the stretcher and bringing it to a sudden halt. She glared at the paramedics, "Burns of this degree are fatal, and they're covering more than ninety percent of his body; there's no way he'll survive the night if you're considering regular treatment. Now get out of the way so you don't have a dead body on your hands,"
The harshness of Sakura's tone and the stony glare was enough to keep the two paramedics in check as Sakura stepped over them to get to the screaming victim who was now writhing in pain. The pinkette barely glanced over the man before she placed her hands over his chest without touching.
"Don't worry,"
Her hands began to glow green from her chakra, extending out, she watched as the flesh burned and chard began to return to its original state. Healing burn victims took a little longer because the cells couldn't regenerate properly depending on the degree of heat that was used, but that's what made healing with chakra so advantageous. The cries of the man became softer and softer until they were nonexistent.
The paramedics watched silently as Sakura healed the burn wounds completely, his skin reappearing and replacing the red and black chard skin.
"A healing quirk," one of them commented but received no response.
Sakura sighed in relief as she finished her treatment. the man's pain was elevated which allowed him to fall unconscious.
"Alright, you can go ahead now," Sakura waved, walking away with a slight smile on her face, partially at the paramedic's surprised states and the other due to her pride in knowing she was able to save another life.
Sakura went back to her room, and though she couldn't sleep with the weight of her situation still pressing onto her, this incident she was able to resolve, allowed her to breathe easier. Because at least she knew that she still had her ability. It made her feel like she would be fine. That it was possible for her.
It didn't take long for doctor Harada to get word of one of his patients healing a burn victim last night after sneaking out of the hospital herself. When he went to Sakura to check up on her, the pinkette had already received breakfast and was looking to be in much better shape than she should have. Her external injuries completely healed and her internal damage appeared nonexistent when he took a look at her again.
"I heard an interesting story," Harada said, as he finished up Sakura's physical exam. "You treated a burn patient last night?"
Sakura nodded, "He's entire body had been burned, he likely wouldn't have survived if I didn't heal him,"
"Yes, but a near-perfect recovery from burn marks that should have left him scarred for life, is remarkable."
"Where is the other doctor….Recovery girl…Chiyo Shizenshi?"
She wanted more information to analyze her situation but had to figure out where to begin. She also wanted to keep from giving out any information that might put her at risk in any way; whatever it may be.
"Oh, she'll be here shortly with Eraser Head and the investigator. In the meantime here's a form I need you to fill out. If you have any queries feel free to ask," Harada said, setting the form in front of her with the clipboard to press on. It was just a standard medical form, but still, there were several questions Sakura couldn't (and didn't want to) answer. A quick and somewhat childish thought came to mind to prevent any repercussions. She then gave the form back to the doctor who quickly looked over it.
"Sakura Haruno; it suits you," Dr. Harada said, "But you've left a lot of your personal information blank; we won't be able to contact anyone to come and-
"I don't have anyone to go to; at least not here because I don't know where here is," the pinkette stated firmly. "I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out what might have happened to me,"
Dr, Harada appeared skeptic, overlooking her charts again, "I see,"
"I'm sorry but I really have no clue where I am, how I got here,"
"No, no, that's okay" Assured Harada although Sakura could see that it wasn't.
Then there was a knock at the door and a nurse voice calling through, "It's me, I've brought detective Tsukauchi and Eraser Head,"
"Good timing, come on in," Harada called, sidestepping to allow the women and two men to enter the hospital room.
"Hello there, I'm detective Naomasa Tsukauchi," the detective introduced. He was a tall man with short black hair wearing an overcoat and matching hat that fit the part of a detective. "This is Eraser Head,"
"Shouta Aizawa," said Chiyo, "She seems to get a little lost when we use our hero names,"
Sakura looked at the man next to the detective, he was in clothes so black she couldn't tell if the top and pants were separate. He had pale skin and messy dark hair with a five o clock shadow. In short, he looked like he needed a nap.
"And this, as I've recently discovered is Sakura Haruno,"
Sakura bowed her head slightly, "Hello,"
"How are you feeling miss Haruno?" asked Tsukauchi,
"Indescribable, and I prefer to be called by my first name," Haruno made her feel old for some reason. It wasn't uncommon for people to address one another by their last names but Sakura wasn't used to anyone calling her by her last name.
"Alright, Sakura. We would like to ask you some questions. See, Eraser Head found you laying-
"I thought you said his name was Shouta Aizawa?"
"Eraser Head is my hero name," Aizawa clarified but it didn't look like it helped Sakura.
The pinkette tilted her head to the side, "Hero name?"
"Yes," Tsukauchi said, "Like the pro heroes you see on TV, he just prefers to work on the-
"This was mentioned before but I'm completely lost as to what you're referring to," She didn't see the point in waiting until after they had babbled to tell them she didn't know what they were saying to her.
"Yes, I noticed this as well," stated Chiyo,
"Um, you don't know what a hero is?"
"No I know what a hero is but the context might be another matter,"
Aizawa then chimed in, "We're referring to those who answer calls to crime, capture villains, community services and such. We're the ones authorized to use our quirks in public spaces. Speaking of which, from what we heard you used your quirk without permission. Granted it may have been necessary in a dire situation but still,"
And now Sakura had another set of questions, "What's a quirk? Are you referring to my healing?"
"That's right," Tsukauchi stated, "You shouldn't use it in public without permission,"
"Why not? Would it have been better if I let that man die?"
"No-no-no-no!" Tsukauchi waved his hands around quickly, "That's not what we meant, it's just the law-
"What law?"
Chiyo, Aizawa, and Tsukauchi looked at each other then to Dr. Harada, who was quick to give his hypothesis. "It may be that her memories have been affected. At first, the scans showed no signs of trauma, and as you can see her speech shows she's mentally stable-quite intelligent. However, she's said she doesn't know where she is. Says she's never heard of Japan before but I wasn't aware she had no memory of quirks either despite being able to use her own,"
"That is odd, but she doesn't seem to be lying," Tsukauchi said softly. The pinkette could hear them but she wasn't showing any sign of offense. Merely observing them. "Let's get her name in the system and see if we can reach out to a relative or guardian first,"
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Tsukauchi turned off his cellphone which he had used to contact the station in checking for the name Sakura Haruno, but there was no one falling in the description of the pinkette. "It doesn't look like she's on the system. There's no one with a healing quirk named Haruno and there's no Sakura Haruno listed,"
Aizawa looked back at the pinkette, "Is your name Sakura Haruno or did you make it up for some reason?"
"No, it's my real name," Sakura stated calmly. From what she could gather, they must have tried to find her identity and it would figure they came up empty, after all, she wasn't from this world.
"Then why aren't you in the system?" asked Recovery girl.
She just shrugged.
Aizawa, Tsukauchi, Recovery girl, and Harada stepped out of the room to have a private discussion.
"What do you think?" Tsukauchi asked.
"I'm convinced she's telling the truth."
"As am I," said Recovery girl, "I don't think she is lying but there is likely something missing,"
"Yes and that's what worries me. Though it is odd she isn't anywhere on the system; I'm going to do a check on missing kids and runaways to see if she fits any of the descriptions and for now I'll call social services to come and place her somewhere."
The social worker was a plump woman with a friendly smile, in a neat skirt and blazer who greeted Sakura kindly; but even with her demeanor, the kunoichi was completely appalled when she was told she would be placed in foster care to be looked after under adult supervision since she was still just a minor.
Even being in a strange new world, she did not want t to be kept under constant watch and it certainly seemed like that was their intention if she went along with them.
"Here are some clothes for you; we'll be waiting outside and then I'll take you to your new home,"
Sakura kept her smile until the door slid closed. Dropping the hospital gown on the floor, she changed very quickly into the outfit. It was a comfortable and rather worn gray yoga-pants and a white tank top over a matching jacket and black sneakers but it was decent enough for her to be able to leave the hospital in.
Through the window that was. Even from the fifth floor, it was an easy jump for a ninja, into the parking lot and out of the gates before anyone could see her or realize she was missing.
'New home? As if!'
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In her role as a ninja, she had traveled to many different countries and had been able to compare structures of cities and buildings but none were as glamorous or rather gaudy as what she saw right now. Buildings of solid concrete or glass that towered dozens of meters in the sky with large screens and flashing images that she was starting to get a better idea of what heroes were. Because they were being advertised around nearly every corner. Skin-tight, brightly colored costumes with bold flashy messages of promotion.
People with different skin tones, some similar to being anthropomorphic, with features of animals such as tails, wings, scales, fur, and more. Sizes exceeding the height of average humans at times. Yet already she could sense the normality to it all.
And there was only one thought going through her mind.
"What kind of world is this?"