You a fan of crossovers? You like a specificsort of story? A specific character? Well, whatever, go read The Chakra Alchemist by Miss Comatose, if you haven't already. It's intriguing and emotionally wrought and very well written. Really I just want you all to suffer with me as we sit idly on its' cliff.

Sorry, enough chit chat, when you're done enjoying her story, and you happen to find yourself back in this neighborhood...

Time passed a little differently in this world. She hadn't noticed it at first, so subtle, unspoken. But every one of Earth's seconds lasted a quarter more than the seconds back home. Everything seemed a little slower, slightly out of focus with time, circadian rhythm stretched taut. She had a calendar pinned to her wall - frolicking kittens - that she used to watch her time, chosen over attempting to use any of the infernal gadgetry S.H.I.E.L.D. tried to foist upon her. Her calendar had 35 days crossed out with small red X's. So she had been here, at the base, for 35 days and in the beginning she had been out in the world for the equivalent of 2 days before they had retrieved her. so that made 37, plus the two days spent interrogating her. 39. Plus the extra quarter seconds. Almost 49 days.

50 days was usually when the village started drawing up papers. Missing Nin. Defector. Presumed Dead.

Maybe there's a grace period, an extension because of the war. They have to know I'm trying, I'm going to get home eventually, it's just taking more hard work than usual.

Now wasn't really the time to be thinking about it though. Sakura crawled on her belly, slinking on fingers and toes, chakra burning fastidiously from her fingerprints. She stopped once she reached the chandelier and looked down to the floor below. A snore erupted from a mound of fine linens. A man of considerably girth and wealth slept unaware of the sword above his head.

What would you be willing to do to go home?

What skills do you have?

What do you bring to the table?

What was I willing to share...

Sakura flicked a senbon down and heard another snore choke up mid breath, catch, and then wheeze away. She coiled a strand of fine wire around her hand, rotating her wrist to reel the needle back. Sticking her lower back to the ceiling, She tucked away her weapons, and pulled free a small tool kit, freeing a screwdriver from it's band. Gently she loosened all the screws holding the canopy cover in place and reached inside to jerk the light fixture off of it's electrical box. Bits of plaster rained down onto the dead man, and Sakura left the heavy light fixture hanging by the thin wires that powered it.

She scooted over to the wall beside the door, and perched at it. The chandelier creaked ominously and held out for one long moment before giving in to gravity. The wires disconnected and the heavy iron ring fell onto the dead man's head with a distinct squelch and then tumbled off the bed and hit the floor loudly. Perfectly.

The door swung open and the room filled with men shouting in a language Sakura didn't know. She crawled out of the top of the doorway, above unsuspecting heads, and down the hall. When crawling on the ceiling no longer benefited her she slid along the shadows on the wall and continued jogging past empty rooms. She just needed to make it to the back exit - away from the hunting dogs pens - and she'd be home free.

Alarms began sounding, old bells being rung in warning and a fog horn turned siren winding up down. Men shouted from down the hall, aforementioned dogs snarling and whimpering at their sides. A little paranoid for what was obviously an accident.

She frowned to herself as she crept towards a window, looking outside quickly towards the dense forest of short pines. Charlie, her handler was supposed to signal her, to let her know what position he had moved to. A voice shouted from outside, foreign and triumphant and furious. While the middle aged man that acted as her liaison was not her favorite person in the world, Charlie wasn't incompetent, he should have signaled by now.

Footsteps grew louder, and a man and a woman seemed to be arguing in harsh low she couldn't understand them her gut told her that whatever they were taking about didnt bode well for her situation.

She had once blamed Naruto for being a drama magnet - every mission she'd ever been on with him had either become more difficult by tenfold or turned out to be an intensely emotional journey having to do with their client or adversary's history. She was beginning to think that perhaps just maybe he hadn't been the only one to draw complications. Maybe she was cursed.

Alright, find Charlie, retreat.

Sakura glanced around her surroundings and then headed for a door that emitted a soft glow, she opened it softly and found an old woman inside, asleep on a chair where she had been washing a small bin of socks. Wasting no time, Sakura struck out, knocking her out deftly, leaning her back in her chair. She made quick work of stripping the woman of her robe and head scarf.

The woman was frail underneath her clothes, small and vulnerable like a baby bird, bald and pink. Sakura took the few moments to cover her with one of the tablecloths stacked nearby, recently washed and folded.

Walking as quickly as she dared in her disguise, Sakura crept towards the main gate and the shouting. The main doors to the fort had been thrown wide open and it appeared that the entire house was awake and present. She skirted the crowd to the left and saw a thin spot, just in time to see Charlie hit in the face. A meaty sound, some of his teeth gave way and Sakura saw him choke on them.

Damn it. He must have gotten too close.

"Myslel sis mohl běžet?!" Charlie's attacker shouted over and over, with each swipe. How could she do this without blowing her cover? It was supposed to be an accident, that was her job. Scowling she lifted the hem of her stolen robes and pushed her way through the crowd.

"Ne!Ne!Ne!" She shouted, about the extent of her capabilities with the language. She repeated it several times, flinging herself over Charlie's beaten body. Her hands grasping his lapels, she brushed his skin and sunk into assessing his wounds. Not life threatening, yet, but definitely debilitating. He would be okay if she healed him...if she healed him...

Scowling to herself, Sakura grasped the small button in her pocket and pressed down. Insurance policy. The fort behind the crowd erupted into flames, the stones of the ancient building seeming to hiccup in the air before settling uncomfortably back into a caricature of their former arrangement.

People screamed as they watched the fort wobble indecisively; fire roared through anything worth devouring. Their lives and their dreams vanished from the push of a button they had never seen. Sakura stripped off the old woman's robe and scooped her partner up onto her shoulders. He groaned piteously. She'd accidentally stepped on the stolen headscarf as she shifted Charlie's weight.

Probably dead, probably hadn't even woken up.

Turning, Sakura hightailed it towards the fence, launching herself well ahead of time, landing briefly atop one of the tall fence's points before vanishing into the forest. She fumbled with the ear piece dangling from Charlie's ear, noting the blood trickling out with mild concern. She lifted it and heard a garbled mess of several people trying to communicate on one line.

Something is very wrong. Something bad had happened. She picked up something about emergency evacuation, call for medical aid, preparation for a retrieval team.

"I need evacuation, agent down. Over." She called. "I repeat, I need evacuation, I have an agent down. Over."

The radio went silent, no static or crackle of unreliable radio frequencies. These peons were beyond such paltry tech. The silence was troubling though, as was the tense moments between her call and their response. Someone switched her to a private channel and finally spoke.

"Request confirmed. Keep heading south. Escort and a med team will be there in twenty. Over." The man on the other end sounded professional enough, but she caught the hint of something, disbelief or shock. At me? What's going on?

It took her five minutes to reach the rendezvous. Sakura fiddled with the radio trying to switch back to the main channel to little success. Charlie groaned beside her and her fist clenched at her side. She would watch and she would soothe and she would hold his hand and make sure no more teeth came loose for him to swallow.

But she wouldn't heal him - wouldn't reveal that card when she had so few.

"I'm sorry."

A chopper wheeled overhead, obscuring her voice.

Phil found her in her new room, holding a red pen and contemplating a new calendar - this time stumbling puppies - he was glad she actually used it. He'd only meant it as a joke when he'd slipped the first one with the kittens into her sign-on crate. This one was just to replace the one that had very likely not survived the collapse of her room in the P.E.G.A.S.U.S. base. She had today's date circled. She hadn't set anything else up in her temporary room. Just the calendar. Her grungy uniform was piled by the door smelling of pine sap and smoke. Shed changed into I'll fitting lounge wear.

"What's today? Is it your birthday?"

"Nothing special," Sakura murmured softly, uncapping the pen with her thumb and then clicking it back into place. Again. Again. Again.

"It's not your fault, about Charlie."

She said nothing, but her face, so young and hard, toughened a little more. She looked at him then with an exhaustion common in soldiers oversea. It was usually called homesickness, but it was far more serious than such a mundane moniker.

"Have we made any progress locating Dr. Selvig or the Tesseract? Was he making any progress before...?"

Phil thought that probably Dr. Selvig was making plenty of progress after his untimely departure, but using any of it for their own benefit was unlikely as the man was currently being controlled by an invading God.

"Don't you want to know how Charlie is?" He detoured.

"How is Obito?" she asked instead.

Also not a good thing to talk about. So many secrets in his organization. Some of them seemed to feel heavier each day.

"No change, I'm afraid." Phil said softly.

"If you'd just let me see him for a moment I could...It might be something you don't even think to look for. I know we're similar, but we're still different beings. You don't know. If you just let me..."

She trailed off with a weariness that seemed genuine. She had been an unrelenting force of energy since she had arrived, eager to learn where to step and where to avoid, what manners she needed, who everyone was, how to work with them, how to be useful. Like a train forging ahead on one track.

"I'm sorry, Sakura."

She wanted to say that it wasn't good enough, but Phil Coulson was one of the few people she could put any trust in at all. She could trust that while his intentions were always focused on his work, he was also a good person. He cared to what extend he was able and never lied about what he could and could not talk to her about. She believed that, or at least she really wanted to.

"Charlie's fine, by the way. A bit young for implants, but I think he's coming around to them. He ate his first solid food today."

"He shouldn't have gotten so close." Sakura said.

"No, he shouldn't have. He thought he had to evacuate because of the attack on the base, there was too much misinformation on the channels and he didn't factor in the patrolling guards. That's on him and his consequence is set. He's grateful though, if it means anything to you. You saved him."

Barely.

"What's next? How are we gonna get the Doctor back? Get the Tesseract back?" Her only way home they said, the only way.

Phil smiled a little sadly at the young woman. For a moment he wondered how this would all play out, if Fury's gambles and ploys would pay off. Sakura had a learned patience about her, but he was under no illusion that beneath her control and her watchful eyes and her polite nature that she wouldn't tear apart their world with her bare hands if she thought it meant she could go home. A single-minded intent was lodged deep in her and while he couldn't guess at all the circumstances, he understood the drive.

She seemed to take his smile wrong, because she stood up from her bed and started pacing like a caged animal.

"Haven't I done enough? Haven't I proven myself yet? When are you all going to take me seriously?" She came to a stop and jammed herself back into the wall, scowling at her bare feet. "Just tell me what's going on. I can help. I can find Selvig. I can get the Tesseract back. Just help me by telling me what you know."

"We're assembling a team."

"What?" caught off guard, she straightened from her slight slouch, "A team? And you...you want me on it?" she asked, buoying up from her brooding attitude.

"We're going to need you on it. Do you remember when I told you that your abilities, your style of evasion and your...uncommon strength could serve a very particular role for us?"

"I remember." Like it was yesterday.

"It's time for you to take that on. I'm sending you to meet up with Agent Romanoff. We're bringing the Good Doctor in."

Sakura blinked at him, "The Big Guy?"

"The Big Guy."

"Phil...tell me who stole the Tesseract, why is he so dangerous that you'd be willing to bring Banner on board this ship?"

"It's not just him, Sakura. It's him and Selvig and Barton and McNear and Owens, all of their knowledge about us, not to mention he has the Tesseract. We're not sure what he even wants to do with it."

"But...who is he?"

"...Trouble."

Natasha Romanoff would have been the best Kunoichi in history, had she grown up in Konohagakure, or any of the Hidden villages. Sakura admired the woman's poise and deftness. Her strength tempered by cultivated beauty. A sharp wit, a soft mouth. She was an amazing shot and fantastic at hand to hand combat, all long limbs and acrobatic panache that was both brilliantly executed with style and yet never seemed excessive. Sakura, while well trained in evasion and strategic outmaneuvering, recognized that Natasha was a better fighter than she might ever be.

And so she admired her greatly.

She hadn't really had the chance to talk to the spy, but she had been introduced once, and she religiously watched every spar she could. Being put on a team with the woman made her nervous, excited, eager.

Sakura was reminded of meeting Tsunade for the first time. The woman so overwhelming in her presence that Sakura felt like she could only shrink to compensate. It was different now, she wasn't scared, she wasn't a child, and her current circumstance left no room for hesitation. She wanted to bloom, to stand beside these women, to be equal.

They had talked most of the trip to India. Or more accurately, Sakura asked questions and received short answers, but answers none the less. Natasha was surprisingly open about some things, like the way she fought, moves she did. Things Sakura wouldn't dare to dream that she would share. Though of course, Sakura figured that whatever information Natasha gave her, the Black Widow held 99 percent of it back. She even offered to spar with her back on the ship. Sakura wondered if Fury would let her - he had passed down a firm no unauthorized fighting rule after her initial assessments. But that was for the normal agents - Natasha was a Master.

Maybe if Coulson supervised?

Natasha was well traveled too, able to speak several languages and smoothly wind her way around the world with no one being any the wiser to her exploits. Sakura envied her ability to blend into this world. She soaked up any knowledge that the woman deigned to spare and cataloged it with the same ferocity she had used to memorize Tsunade's lessons. While Tsunade's brute strength approach to life had its perks, it decidedly had its downfalls as well.

In the past two months, Sakura had become extremely aware that the least studied portion of her ninja career, Stealth, was so overlooked by her generation that it might have gotten her killed here if she had been at full strength and willing to fight. Her weakened position had kept her from foolhardily taking on an organization bigger than anything she had ever encountered.

Natasha, with her intelligence and watchfulness, and her carefully crafted layers that she could peel back at will made her an ideal teacher for this period of Sakura's life. Subtle and strong and fearless in a way different from Tsunade, but not inferior.

So it was a little disconcerting after spending time and getting to know her to see Natasha look so afraid or whatever it was that passed for fear on her face.

Sakura thought it was exposure that tempered her own misgivings. Fresh from war, Bruce Banner didn't frighten her. She imagined that he was like Naruto. He seemed kind and sad and he had a demon inside him. Sakura wondered if like Naruto he might ever come to peace with his beast, or if it was too different a situation.

For all her deep research and careful examination of life at home, the nuances of this world's science were frustrating. Back home chakra had always filled in the intuitive leaps necessary for any scientific arts. Here each tiny step had to be dissected and discussed and dithered upon until even a scholarly type like her wanted to just walk away.

Bruce Banner did seem nice though; annoyed, wary, even a little petulant, but nice none the less.

Until he had to go shouting and triggering everyone into high alert.

Outside the small house, several dozen armed agents bristled. Natasha stood firm, only the unwavering stare of her shiny eyes giving away her trepidation as she aimed her previously stashed pistol at the Good Doctor's head. Sakura, perched in the rafters, crouched a little lower, ready to drop at the first sign that Banner's melanin took on a greener tinge.

"I'm sorry, that was mean. I just wanted to see what you would do."

Sakura leaned back a little, stood up, and then silently made her way out a high window carved out of the wall. Better to keep her anonymity. After all, it was her job to put the Hulk in check if he decided to make an appearance and it was always easier to do if she hadn't had to do it in the past.

So she did what she now did best, what this world was teaching her to do.

Lie.

She walked around and pushed in the front door, breathing hard, making a fool of herself or at least appearing to be the civilian equivalent of her persona.

"Agent Romanoff, are you okay?"

"I said stand down."

"Just you and me, huh?" the Doctor huffed softly. Natasha looked uncomfortable for a moment and then looked to Sakura with sharp interest but didn't say anything else to dismiss her. She caught on quick.

"And you, another spy?" Banner muttered.

"I'm not a spy. Didn't Agent Romanoff tell you? I'm your assistant."

"We hadn't gotten to that part yet," Bruce said, "I haven't even agreed."

Sakura glanced at Natasha and blinked a few times. Natasha lowered her gun to her side and smiled coolly, "When you have, I'll be waiting in the car. We're leaving in ten."

She passed by Sakura, clapping a hand briefly to her shoulder.

"I don't think Fury would appreciate that you assigned yourself a position. Your orders were to stay in the periphery."

"I don't think Fury has a choice if he wants to keep me around as a leash. I can be of better use if I'm more involved and now I can prove it."

"Don't bite the hand that feeds you, Sakura."

"I wouldn't have to if they didn't starve me."

Natasha's eyes lingered, but then she turned, gathered her shawl and left. Sakura cleared her throat and looked to the Doctor.

"So...do you need any help packing?"

His eyes were brown, no flecks of green or anything. Not filled with rage or anger or fear even. He was exasperated though and so Sakura considered it a good enough start to phase one of her plan.

Soon enough she'd be in a position to finally get the Doctor back and then it was just a short hop, skip, and transdimensional jump back home. With a small side stop to finally get Obito back from wherever S.H.I.E.L.D. had him buried.

"I don't know why you brought me along. I can't help you. I won't help you."

"You will serve your purpose eventually. There's a reason you were with the Tesseract."

"He's an important prisoner," Dr. Selvig said.

"Agent Barton?"

"It's true. He's like you, not from here. He knows more than he's telling. He's like the other one."

"A traveler. The other one...?"

"A girl, she arrived when he did. Came through a portal."

"I see. How did you open path between worlds?"

"I can't do it again. I don't have the ability anymore. Though, I wouldn't do it if I could. I've had some experience with what you're doing right now and I can tell you that you're making a mistake and I don't want any part of it. Taking over the world won't give you what you think it will."

"What is your name, stranger to Midgard?"

A silence stretched thin like garotte wire.

"...Obito, his names Obito, Sir." Barton answered.

"...I see. How intriguing. Well, if you won't talk, then perhaps I'll have a conversation with your companion instead. She may be more inclined to speak if she has the proper incentive. Put him back in the cage, Barton."

"Yes, sir."