Hello, guys! I'm glad to announce this is the prologue of my new story and sequel to The Blind and the Unseeing! When I first started The Blind and the Unseeing, I wanted to try writing Sakura as the heroine (seeing as Kishimoto-sensei said he didn't know how to do write heroines, I felt it was only fair to give her a chance) and write a romance. Of course, being me, I couldn't help but add action in there, so what i tended to be max 20 chapters long turned into an epic story...

This time is about how to change things and accepting differences. Many characters will come back in this sequel, but some of them will be different from what they were (life experience and all that) so it will also be about dealing with that.

Well, I hope you enjoy and stay with me on this!

888888888

Sakura looked straight at Kakashi, seeing through her sensory jutsu the minute twitch of his jaw, and nodded decisively at him. Ir was time, and she was ready.

Her arms gripped Naruto tighter, clutching him close to her bosom. What if it failed? Gaara's sand would protect them from the brunt of the impact, but...There were so many unknowns in the equation, anything could go wrong.

Doubts assailed her.

Recreating the circumstances of her time jump was no easy feat; She had thought upon it distractedly for years, but putting the plan in motion made her realize she might never know whether it worked or not. If they were sent into oblivion...But no. Jiraiya's seals added a new component. Set to react to the outburst of chakra, they were to send her and Naruto to a specific time and space, using the jutsu as a lifeline. This would work. It had to.

Naruto whimpered softly at the loss of chakra and became limp in her arms as his chakra drained away.

And then the jutsu slammed into them. Her medical jutsu reacted instantly, wrapping around Naruto and her, but stopped by Gaara's sand from taking full effect on them—encased in that sand, she was free from the danger of using that jutsu twice on herself.

As expected, the two jutsu clashed together; there was a bright light, an explosion, and then they were propelled in the air, Sakura's arms tightening around Naruto protectively as she curled around him.

-:-

The ground rushed at her suddenly. Sakura braced herself for the impact, bending her knees to absorb most of it, and clenched her arms around Naruto. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she rolled to the side to deflect the strength of the impact, and lay panting, kneecaps stinging.

In her arms, Naruto groaned quietly. She shushed him gently.

"We're there, Naruto-kun. Be very quiet, this is not a peaceful time..."

She observed their surroundings, gently putting Naruto down. She stretched her senses to their limits, frowning.

"What's wrong, nee-chan?" murmured Naruto, looking into her face.

"We're not where we're supposed to be. I guess it was too much to ask for...At least we're in the right forest. However, if the geographical coordinates were approximate, chances are we're not at the right moment either..."

She clenched her teeth, getting up and giving a hand to Naruto to hoist him up. "Alright. We're really close. First, however, you must always listen to my orders and never contradict me. Our lives may depend on it. These are not peaceful times, remember, and two strangers will certainly be looked upon with distrust."

Naruto shrugged. "Sure, nee-chan. It won't make much of a difference to me."

Behind his careless words lay a world of hurt. She hugged him closer, burying her face in his blond hair. "You're a good kid, Naruto-kun. Even if we're stranded here, I'll always be your family. Remember that, alright?"

He nodded into her chest, for once not saying anything. This would make the next part harder...

"Before we go, promise me to use my seal to teleport safely to my cave if you're ever in a situation where your life is in mortal danger. Even if I am in trouble, you must not hesitate."

He looked up at her with a frown. "I couldn't ever leave you behind!" he admonished her. "You're my only family and my first friend ever! I'll never abandon you!"

Brave Naruto. Sweet Naruto, who put himself in danger over and over again for the sake of his friends. Foolish Naruto, who didn't see that it would cost him his life.

"If worse comes to worse, I'll follow you. Besides, remember this: This mission could be done successfully without me, but not without you. Your well-being is of the utmost importance."

Naruto still looked unsatisfied, but he nodded reluctantly, gnashing his teeth.

"Let's go."

-:-

Her eyes were red with tears, but her jaw was clenched shut, determination shining in her eyes. She would not fail. Not this time. This was too important.

She wanted to sob, really she did, but couldn't afford to. Later. Later, when she was home safe and sound, she would cloister herself in her room and cry for hours on end.

Her chakra wrapped around the damaged nerves of her teammate, slowly fusing them back together. This was eating up a lot of her chakra, and her attention span was waning, but this was not the time to let such matters concern her. She had to stay strong.

The glow faded from her fingers, and she lightly tapped her teammate's shoulder.

"You can open your eyes now. How do you feel?"

The young male did so, and she felt her throat clench, emotions threatening to overwhelm her.

"Kakashi-kun..."

In his face, the eye of their other teammate looked straight at her from its injured orbit.

"I can see just fine. Wait..."

He jumped to his feet, standing protectively before her as two figures walked out of the trees. One of them was about their age, but the other, potentially more dangerous, was an adult.

They were already tired and injured, but maybe they could win the fight on if they took on the adult together.

"Rin..."

The two newcomers slowly walked in their direction, and they could see that the smaller one looked a heck of a lot like their sensei. In miniature.

The boy looked up at the adult. "Hey, isn't that..."

It was enough to make them stop short for a moment, but then Kakashi regained his senses and rushed at them, intent on taking the child out swiftly.

He was so fast that Rin didn't see him move, but suddenly, the adult—was she blind or something, with that blindfold over her eyes?—moved, and her shakujou intercepted perfectly Kakashi's weapon, inches from the boy's chest.

"So impulsive..." sighed the woman. "You shouldn't be fighting at all in your condition."

She didn't make any threatening move as Kakashi jumped backward, analyzing her. Was she that confident in her skills?

She reached into her pocket and threw something at him.

"Catch!"

Surprised, he did just that—Stupid!—and then looked in horror at what was in his hand, half expecting to see an exploding tag. But then—"A chakra pill?"

"Take that, young man. You're going to need it to protect your teammate. There are enemies coming."

Rin took a step forward uncertainly. "Kakashi-kun, she's right...I can feel many people coming. Too many to fight. We must move out."

Still tense, Kakashi nodded tersely, slowly inching backward, until he felt he was far enough from this mysterious duo, and then he ran off, Rin close on his heels.

"Nee-chan...Were we too late?"

"Iie, Naruto-kun. Not completely. Not completely..."

8888888

And so begins another chapter of Sakura's adventures.