Hello my dear readers,

I hope my prolonged absence has not greatly disheartened anyone from my story, or thought that I have long abandoned its progress. The reasons for my disappearance for over a year occurred as I started college during that time I created my story. Not only was the homework load demanding, but that same year I went through a drastic alteration in my being, one full of grief, self-destruction, negativity, abusive-manipulative friends, bad habits, and so forth, leaving me unrecognizable and pushing those I love away. However, I was able to sever ties with bad people and my true loved ones never left me as I learned how to improve myself and heal slowly. Now, I have found my balance, quit my bad habits, took up on daily meditation, healthy eating, working out, and playing Overwatch with my best friends. This year I am finishing up my senior year of high school, as well as still attending community college along with attending a trade school for experience in the medical field. Thus, my life is nevertheless busy, but I will always be busy, and like with my working out, there are no excuses, I MAKE time for it, so I will once in a while get back to my impending stories as well to keep my adamant readers happy too!

I do apologize again for being gone so long, and for the long author's note, but I am finally healing and focusing more on what's best for myself.

I always love to hear from my fans and thank you to all who enjoy my story and who've written reviews!

Please enjoy my new chapter!

Chapter 3: Saudade

She felt everything. And everything was hurting her.

Her skin crawled and sent agonizingly slow jolts throughout her tiny form, making her shake with tiny spasmodic quivers. The chill of the morning pricked at her skin like hundreds of needles dipped in icy water. Her ankle, trachea, and stab wounds were successfully healed, but her having used her byakogou did not come without repercussions, and given her physical state, who knows what will happen when she wakes up. She needed food, water, shelter, basic survival needs but sleep still sounded teasingly welcoming, stubborn on keeping her eyes shut, attempting to block out the world a bit longer. Sleep was what gave her a peaceful break from the unbearable pain of the outside world and from her own head. Thankfully due to her evident exhaustion and adrenaline rush, her sleep was undisturbed, no night terrors plaguing her mind. The sound of kicked dirt and hasty steps, followed by an arm cradling her head sent signals to her cloudy mind, forcing her to come to her senses. Waking up brought it all crashing down on her, her mind going into overdrive, fighting through the pounding sensations as a hazy shadow loomed over her, face barely visible with the sun peaking out of the clouds on the back of their head. Sakura's eyes widened in vain to see better, instinctively reaching for her kunai as a warning to the intruder.

Raising their free arm up, as the other intruding appendage supported her head, the person quickly explained, "Hey now! I'm a Konoha ninja too, I'm just going to help you out okay?". The voice of a teenage boy spoke, his tone gentle and questionably determined. Nothing was making sense to Sakura, gaze shifty and on high alert, protruding rays of sunlight behind thick dreary clouds making her head hurt more as her pupils were dilated. As her vision focused better, Sakura blinked a few times to make sense of her surroundings. Her dazed orbs flickered to where his metal protector shown, making out the curves and edges of the hidden leaf symbol. Realizing he was indeed a Konoha ninja, Sakura tried to relax a bit despite her feverish state and contracted muscles.

Next, the awful stench invaded her nostrils, instinctively wrinkling her nose upon putting a name for it. The unmistakable fetor of death, blood, and...wet grass?

'Was it raining last night?' Her form still quivered and nose sniffled as reality dawned on her, each breath labored as she attempted to maintain composure and focus on the ally in front of her.

"Now I'm no medic, but I have a good friend close by who is, I'll take you to her. Are you alright with me carrying you?" He inquired, trying to calm her as he refused to acknowledge the other dead ninja in close proximity, attempting to elude both himself and the girl from the scene as bile threatened to rise up Obito's throat. Looking between the girl all bloodied and struggling to breathe caused him to sniffle a bit, averting his gaze temporarily as not to worry the girl more, deciding to kick the intrusive piles of rocks away from them, the ones her head laid on top of. If she hit her head really hard she needed to see Rin even more quickly, prompting a shaky sigh from the boy, running a free hand through his hair, seeing how to lift her carefully and get to his team already.

Finding it painful to move her jaw to formulate a response, Sakura took note with irritation that she managed to break her mandible most-likely upon collapsing after the fight, probably hitting her head equally as hard too.

Steadily releasing a sigh through her nose, she made a small raspy noise at the back of her throat in response.

Satisfied with her alertness, the boy thought it safe to delicately lift her onto his back, making sure her torso and legs were supported, her head at an angle that allowed for breathing, instigating a wide grin to spread on his face as her face nuzzled his neck.

He smelled like fresh grass and sweat, much better than the rancid smell of death she was lying in the whole night, taking care of how she rested her head and locked her hand around her other wrist in a headlock, catching a glimpse of the pile of ninja she killed before reverting back to inhaling the favored smell.

"I'm Obito by the way, and I promise I'll take care of you." He told her adamantly.

As Obito started off in careful, yet hurried motions towards his team, he felt the girl noticeably stiffen after he admitted his name, her body shaking, the tremors vibrated on his back, her breathing hitched as she strained to inhale in between hiccups. Her hands tried to keep hold around Obito's neck, trembling and falling limp. His steps, though cautious, seemed to discomfort her more, much to his dismay.

She must be going crazy, mulling over the possibility of...going back in time. Utterly absurd. Yet here she was, being carried around by none other than Obito Uchiha who's objective during the Fourth Great Ninja War was to destroy the real world in exchange for a dream world. In the end, Sakura came to respect the man as he had a change of heart and she had learned more about him and Kakashi. Mentions of the Sandaime, and Kirigakure ninja on the offense against Konoha nonetheless ushering towards the notion that she was somehow, someway, a little girl housing bijuu power and the sharingan in the middle of the Third Ninja War. . Her head pounded again, she couldn't tell if her heart or mind were running faster, she must be mixing fantasy with reality. Maybe it was a side effect of her byakogou, with her body of a child no less...perhaps the poison from the fight didn't wear off with her byakogou? No, not possible...this could have something to do with back when she gave into her rage after Naruto died at her side...Of course it had something to do with back then or else she wouldn't be in this mess undoubtedly...

'Oh Kami'

"Obito...can't hold, on..." Sakura breathed in a barely audible whisper, her words slurred and croaked from her broken mandible and impending fever, slipping off Obito's back. Already missing the warmth of the body, she relentlessly shivered and convulsed more frequently, waiting for impact of the ground again. Obito, having heard the warning, deftly spun around and caught her before her head bashed on the ground, giving him a mini heart attack as he scrambled to get the girl to his team without causing her more discomfort. Kneeling down, he used his knee to help support her back, the Uchiha struggling to quickly take off his navy jacket and wrap the girls' fragile and shivering form as a shield from the cold. The poor thing shook like a leaf, her mouth slightly ajar to take in shallow breaths and her eyes glossed over unseeing and heavily dilated.

Obito cradled the girl bridal style, pressing her close to him to block out the cold and vibrations from his running, making a mad dash to his team. After a couple of minutes, he started calling his teammates out for their attention and for Rin to look at her, worried about the girl as her condition worsened in his arms.

"Obito what're you yelling f-" Kakashi began irately, ready to scold his tardy partner. His words ran short as he caught sight of the bundle his teammate was carrying, Obito's eyes spoke volumes of his worry.

"Obito!" His sensei flash stepped next to him, Kakashi and Rin right behind closing the distance. Obito skidded to a stop, fumbling for the shortest phrase to get his point across.

"Sensei, I found her on my way here. Please help her Rin!"

"The poor thing! I'll do my best Obito." Rin soothingly reassured her troubled friend, helping Obito lay her softly atop a thin blanket retrieved from Rin's pouch, getting right to work on checking the child's vitals and signs if the blood came from any wounds.

"Help her stay on her side, don't restrain her though." Rin ordered.

Minato knelt close to the medic, firmly keeping his palms where Sakura's head and back were, Obito flanking the pinkette, who still wore his jacket, leaving him in his mesh undershirt.

The worried Uchiha looked between the medic and the girl, impatient and taking note of Rin's furrowed brow and tight lip. "Rin, what's going on with her?"

"She is having eclampsia, a type of seizure caused by head injury. Judging from her broken jaw she hit her head hard and with her fever it is also a definite contributing factor. We have to watch out for her and make sure she stays on the blanket as I try to assess other injuries. We can't try to constrict her movements, seizures could take minutes or longer, so we will let it run its course and continue from there." Rin stated evenly, maintaining a sense of professionalism and an anchor to keep everyone calm.

"Affirmative, I see no other injuries, that's good but weird." Rin added after a moment.

"Obito, what happened?" Minato Namikaze stood, keeping an eye on the girl and on the Uchiha, noticeably perturbed by her state of well being.

"Sensei, I-I took a shortcut and caught sight of her wounded and sick on the ground with about a dozen or so Kiri ninja lying dead close to her." Obito explained, voice growing louder with each word as his thoughts compiled and made him angry after recalling what he saw, what the girl had to go through.

Minato and Kakashi exchanged a sideward glance of silent apprehension, the latter crossing his arms, scrutinizing the girl whose convulsions were slowing down after what felt like hours.

Rin ran a soft hand through the girl's hair in a soothing manner, wiping her brow with a wet cloth to help with the fever and sweat. Minato felt sorry for the small child, having taken off his own Jonin vest to let her use as a blanket, rubbing circles on her back to help even her breathing and hiccups.

Obito was fuming. Kakashi, impassive, keeping his gaze averted from the girl to the field.

Finally, Sakura stopped her convulsions, with eyes half-lidded and chest heaving from the strain on her body. Minato supported her head to allow Rin to give her water from a flask. Sakura was coming back to her senses slowly, eyes seeing blobs of colors and her body being supported with no weight-bearing on her part, feeling a weight on her torso, though it kept her warm so she wasn't going to ponder too much on it. Something cool, and crisp touched her chapped lips, exciting neurons at the proximity of water, silently thanking the strangers as she eagerly gulped the water which eased her nerves, feeling the water all the way to her abdomen due to her temperature. Her jaw was healed, but improperly. Water still trickled down the sides of her mouth, unable to properly drink it all or possibly speak with her jaw set incorrectly. The pain was gone, but she will have to reset it and heal it herself.

"Maybe we shouldn't do that." His monotone voice halted the others to look at him quizzically, save for Sakura. She did not want to risk making sudden moves, lying languorously to prevent further exertion, just listening in on their conversation for the moment.

"Excuse me?" Obito challenged curtly, not wanting to deal with Kakashi's cavalier attitude.

Ignoring his teammate deliberately, the Hatake gestured a hand at the girl, "For all we know she could be a spy from Kiri, brought here as a scapegoat and a way past our defenses. We shouldn't waste our time and resources on someone we have no proof over being one of us."

Sakura remained silent, unmoving, in fear the strangers will kill her in her vulnerable state if she so much as flinched at this point now. The people supporting her didn't say a word at first either, promoting her sense of unease and confusion further.

"You insensitive bastard!" riposted the Uchiha jumping up and shooting a hard glare at Kakashi. At the voice, something in Sakura clicked, putting a name to the voice.

'Obito! Oh gods! Oh gods I remember now! Damn, damn! I must be with his team now.' Peering at the blob of spiky hair was almost to painful to look at, the father of her deceased Naruto was sitting by her, and young Kakashi accusing her of wrongdoings was bringing old memories to plague her again. Pushing them back she focused on their conversation further.

"You are an idiot, Uchiha! Do you not clearly see the kanji written on her neck saying 'Property of Kirigakure'? That itself is a red flag, you never think before you act." Obito stepped back, baffled by his words, quick to turn and sure enough see an inscription on the girl he rescued.

Sakura was left in her own flummox, 'What fucking 'Property'?'

"I-I didn't see that! What fucking monsters!"

"You always let your emotions get to you, crybaby. Seeing a hurt little girl made you have a 'speck of dust in your eye' for you to miss something so obvious. Pathetic really."

"Kakashi, do you really have to be so inconsiderably hostile, you prick?" Jabbing a finger at the languid, vulnerable girl. "That is a little girl who has a Konoha headband, and possibly was the reason for those dead Kiri ninja I found her close to. They could have tagged her like a fucking animal! Maybe they wanted to kidnap her or sell her off to gods only know to do what! Have you considered that, Kakashi?" Obito said in a lower tone at the end, leaning towards Kakashi in a nonverbal invitation for a challenge.

Sakura was hardly able to comprehend the words for Obito's upright boldness in her defense without knowing much about her. It warmed her heart all the same.

Without losing a flicker of arrogant composure, the Hatake stood his ground with unamused black orbs staring into fervent ones, retorting haughtily, "It's not all that uncommon, and it's unfortunate. I also find it hard to believe a girl as herself with baggy clothes was able to take down a dozen Kiri ninja without any injuries save for a broken jaw. Either way I care about the safety of the village over one child's life, as you should, Obito."

"Why you-!"

"Obito, Kakashi, that's enough! It is our job to protect the village as it is our job to protect the people and children. If she was indeed an enemy, surely the others would be more discreet with their tactics, and not to leave her exposed out in the open with the elements to fend for herself. If she were with Kiri, she would have died with them by one of us on patrol or at least taken into question, not left for the opportunity to escape. Given our patrol team do not venture out this far and none of our other groups had a fight in this area last night, something triggered Kiri to venture close enough and perhaps this girl was caught in the middle. With Obito's descriptions, a fight broke out either way, with the inscriptions on her neck, a vulnerable spot. We will have to inspect the spot Obito found her at on our way to the hospital. Either way, further inspection and decision will be carried out by the Sandaime." Minato inquired, placing cool fingers to run along the length of the inscription, feeling an ink residue. Should be easily removed after some further scrutiny. They needed to get her out of the cold though, her pulse was irregular he noted internally.

"Better not get too attached to her, Obito. You know what they'll do to her if she is in fact an enemy, right?" Kakashi added, unruffled, serving to further make Obito hot under the collar, ready to deck him.

Before Obito could react, Rin left Sakura to Minato and stepped in the middle of the two boys, firmly pressing her palms on their chests. "You guys stop it! Her fever is getting worse, we need to go!" Rin did not enjoy their usual banter, and felt sorry for the girl. She looked so helpless and damaged, as a healer Rin hoped she was one of their own for the sake of the girl's own life.

At that, Obito sent the Hatake one last warning glance and helped get the little girl alert and do whatever else he could to help.

Sending soothing strings of chakra at her temples, Rin helped coax the girl to fully wake up, "Sweetie, your health is at great risk, so we need you to stay awake for a bit and keep your eyes on us alright? Can you hear me?"

Obito and the others watched intently as the girl stirred and nodded her head a bit, scanning the people around her better with the help of Rin's chakra.

Gently, Minato supported her back as she sat up, Obito by her other side offering a reassuring grin her way, to which she returned the best she could with her crooked jaw bone.

Sakura peered into Rin's kind, chocolate eyes, slowly encasing her hands in her own without breaking eye contact, confusing the medic but letting the girl show her what she wanted.

Sakura left Rin's hands to hover over her mandible, to allow chakra to flow there. Sakura paused for a second, taking a shaky breath and closing her eyes to calm her nerves before making quick work of snapping the bone, sending a sharp jolt of pain throbbing, eliciting a load and pained groan muffled at the back of her throat. Everyone was taken aback by her swift action of self harm, appalling them as they tried to intervene from the girl hurting herself further. "Hey now, don't hurt yourself like that!" Obito practically yelled in a confused panic, reaching to grab her hands. "Wait!" At this Minato and Obito stopped to regard Rin. "I think she's trying to set her mandible back in its proper position. I couldn't heal it properly without hurting her, as she slept with it broken and had to be moved. So I healed it to stop the pain but she isn't trying to hurt herself intentionally." With her motives understood, Rin hurriedly sent soothing undulates of chakra as Sakura already set the bone in its proper position, within a minute or so she would be able to not have speech impairment to worry about.

Everyone looked at Sakura expectantly, Obito still next to her, curiosity almost making him bounce in place. Readying herself, Sakura took a deep breath and began her introduction, testing the mobility of her newly set bone first.

"Hello...I am Sakura Haruno. I am a ninja from Konohagakure. I was...put in a difficult and confusing disposition that led the intervention of Kirigakure ninja." Glancing at everyone except Kakashi, she let it sink in and rambled in her head to make sense of her situation, despite needing some obvious parts to be classified until further notice. "They attacked me, and I had to fight my way out using shadow clones and jutsu I have learned from my mentors. One in particular had an interest in me...for interrogation, and possibly other services." At this Obito and Minato scowled, the former more so, cursing under his breath.

"I had numerous injuries as I was heavily outnumbered, but used a medical ninjutsu to help me survive and heal my wounds. Shortly after finishing them off...I fainted and managed to hit my head and jaw on impact with much force...With my symptoms of irregular palpitations, seizures, confusion, lack of mobility, fever, memory loss, and severe headaches, I am positive I have either internal bleeding or intracranial pressure most known as brain swelling. My right side and arm is mostly immovable, worrying me that I will soon have permanent brain damage if not taken care of stat with surgery. Please take me to Lady Tsunade. If you are all still suspicious I have no problem...meeting up with the Sandaime, even have Jiraiya-sensei, Inoichi Yamanaka and whoever else you want to discuss matters." The team was pondering over her words, taking in the information and slightly surprised at hearing recognizable names whom were regarded highly amongst comrades. It personally pained Sakura to bring up names that stung, feeling a bitter aftertaste from the overwhelming predicament she was placed under. The deities must be punishing her.

"Huh, those people are famous, if not, their names are known past the walls of Konoha at the least." His unmistakable voice broke her out of her trance. "Don't think just saying intelligent phrases and important names will make me believe your story further. Gathering higher nobles in one room with you, either you are such an idiot, or you think whatever plan you and Kiri put in your head will work, well, also makes you an idiot, but a danger nonetheless."

"Would you quit it Hatake!"

Minato drawled out a long sigh and Obito sent Kakashi a warning glance, Rin was still fixated on Sakura, intrigued by her obvious intellect in formulating a diagnosis at a younger age than herself.

Averting her gaze to acknowledge the still-standing Hatake, Sakura settled for looking at his mask, refusing at first to look at his mistrustful gaze. She didn't see the teenage boy in front of her, she saw the face of a dead man, drained of pallor and life, no longer giving her that signature eye-wrinkle smile to assure her everything was going to be alright. Shaking out of her thoughts with a shiver of her body, she reverted back to the present, albeit with much resistance. Everyone she looked at instigating unadulterated emotions brewing in her core, Minato and Kakashi being the hardest to even glance at.

"Well...I don't expect trust or friendship, but as your sensei and yourself have noted, the Sandaime will be the one to decide my fate." With that, he huffed and started off in the direction towards home.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I can walk." Sakura admitted apologetically, struggling to force her muscles to work, but her right side felt completely dead, making her panic internally at the thought of losing mobility of half her body, and if it crawled up her jaw and face, she'd be unable to communicate verbally either.

"No worries." A small grin later, the future Yondaime lifted up the bundle in his arms, still wearing Obito's and his jackets. He waited as Obito helped Rin pack up her medical supplies, offering to carry some of the things, to which the kind girl allowed with a giggle. The pinkette knew she left out a few important factors about the fight and how she got to this predicament, or lack of knowledge for that matter, but needed rest and nourishment before enlightening the higher authorities of the future that lay for Konoha. Deciding to do her best at ignoring the fact she was being carried by Minato who resembled too much like Naruto, she slipped in and out of consciousness, not even caring to look when they arrived at the scene of the mass murder from the previous night.

Minato took in the scene in front of him, aghast with eyes wide, not believing what he saw. Obito and the girl known as Sakura weren't kidding about the situation. He never dubbed Obito a liar, but to still see it all laid out for him to witness unsettled him greatly. Rin covered her mouth and Obito refused to stare at anything other than the branch of a tree to his left, showing obvious aversion to what must have unfolded. Kakashi remained all the more apathetic, checking to make sure the others didn't have a pulse, inspecting their swords and the way they gleamed in the light with their blood stains. Biting his lower lip in contemplation, the Yellow Flash took one last glance around before regarding the sleeping child in his arms.

"Obito and Rin come with me to the hospital and report this to Sandaime. Kakashi, you will clean up and sniff out any other suspicious items you can find."

"Understood"

She was not alone.

Their undeniable voices rang loud and clear as if they were talking right into her ear all the way down to her heart.

"...Don't be like this old man." A distinct feminine voice said.

"Regretfully it's not my decision Tsunade. The council is a great asset of the village, and though I strongly disapprove of their choice, it is in their best interest to take precautions for the village's safety, and it will only be temporary." A man's voice replied.

She could already envision the blonde thrumming her nails irately, tsking at the mention of the council. The smell of tobacco tickled her nose as she watched in her head how the man drew in a breath of smoke with the other arm behind his back.

"She is still my patient and a child for that matter. Her recovery would be severely compromised."

"She is also a child that is thought to have taken on 13 ninja from Kirigakure, not to mention that unmistakable bijuu chakra brewing inside her." Countered a deep baritone voice, shuffling in loud shoes to sit on the window ledge.

"That in itself is proof she has more to her than what we have confirmed already. For that I need her alert and oriented in order for us to have her side of the story."

"And what of the mark on her forehead?" The deep baritone inquired further.

"I can confirm that is indeed a Yin-seal. So she must have activated it during her encounter with the Kiri group if she is in fact one of us and had to fend for herself, bringing her to the state she is in now." Tsunade stated with eased practice.

"Hence, she had to get those powers somehow, which is seemingly impossible especially being a small, fragile thing."

A snort was heard from the Yellow flash, "Sensei, there are prodigy's all throughout the nations and countries, some particularly young, you should know that first-hand."

"We will have to further investigate that is a certain Jiraiya, but we must be open-minded all the same. If it can be avoided, I'd like to not bring more harm towards the child." The Sandaime spoke.

"Hokage-sama, she's awake." Minato announced who was at close proximity to her bed, having noticed her change in breathing and fluttering eyelids in a stubborn attempt to keep them shut.

Having been caught determining her surroundings and listening in, Sakura attempted to open her heavy eyelids, the sound of heels echoed throughout the room that halted at her bedside. She wasn't ready, and probably never would be ready to face people who she knew but didn't know her. To face people she once associated with and knew were supposed to be dead.

Her bed was angled upwards slightly, allowing her to see the occupants in the bland, clean room. There stood Minato, Jiraiya, Hiruzen, and Tsunade with all their glory, peering down at the bedridden child hooked up on life-support and wires that ran deep into her veins.

Sakura was nearly hyperventilating, the huge lump lodging in her already parched throat. She tried to squirm or move at least a bit, but was found unable to hardly twitch, her efforts proving futile and causing her to become frustrated.

"Sorry kiddo, you won't be moving around for a while longer, especially with the present the council gave you. But you should be able to move and walk again with time." The blonde noted with a sort of penitence for having to subdue to the council's wishes like this.

"The surgery was a success?" Sakura inquired carefully, wondering why her head was still so heavy, worrying what the repercussions were for the swelling and trauma. She did not want any sort of brain damage, she was already convinced of being crazy to think she was really in the past.

"Yes, you are still in the intensive care unit however. Your diagnosis brought to me by Minato's teammate proved correct. We performed a craniotomy to relieve the swelling from caving into tissue and causing permanent brain damage. But we will have to monitor your vitals and see to your recovery otherwise through rehabilitation." Tsunade's tone was professional and matter-of-fact, tapping a manicured finger on her forearm in thought. "It's pretty interesting to me how a little kid like you could be wandering around with higher knowledge of medicine and claim to be from here, yet, there are no files on your existence or affiliation of Konoha. However, given the fact that there was in fact your blood among the scene as lab results came back positive, that does not prove you are from Konoha."

"Tsunade-hime, please, spare me the opportunity of asking the child." The Sandaime calmly intervened, stepping to the opposite side of her hospital bed, wearing a warm, inviting smile upon her, causing the lump to rise further in Sakura's throat that made it difficult to swallow or contain traitorous tears.

"How are you feeling?" Knowing the third Hokage was a kind-hearted man, and loved children, she was not naïve that he also had to do things behind closed doors that were not meant to be known to the sensitive. He had a whole village to protect, as she had that responsibility as well, she had a small feeling he was being nice to get her to confide more easily if given the right amount of care. But how could she contain herself after suppressing her feelings in for years, all to have figure after figure reappear in front of her from her past? Her heart was dead inside, her head throbbing and holding a heavy weight, her right arm and leg numb, and her forehead burned. Taking a few shaky breaths, the girl cleared her throat in an effort to push the lump down. "I'm fine, Sandaime-sama." She hoped her weak smile was convincing enough.

The man peered in her dim eyes and knew she was lying, but chose to venture elsewhere. "Do tell, my dear, youu seem to have gotten yourself in a lot of trouble." He tested carefully, earning the full attention of everyone in the room. If she could press further into the mattress and disappear she would. Their piercing gazes were undressing her of her thin wall harboring raw feelings threatening to pool over like a dam crumbling under the weight of holding up a river.

"I do plan on informing all that I know, but first, as Namikaze-san and his team may have already parroted about my intervention with the group from Kiri, I left out a few important details that were classified." At this, Minato raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued.

"I have proof of my identification, and I have managed to contain one of the ninja attacking me as hostage. If you would allow me, I'd like to retrieve the hostage as well as my identification both stored in separate compartments." Sakura noted, seeing as her baggy, blood-splotched clothes were replaced with the hospital gown, her left wrist wearing a thin metal bracelet, and her right arm was hidden beneath the sheets from view.

"That is indeed interesting news. I must tell you first where you stand from this point on. The council of this village requested you to be put under chakra-blocking bracelets, and to be under supervision for a minimum of thirty days. Depending on your behavior, your days may be prolonged before you are free to walk the streets without contraints. But since Tsunade-chan and I don't agree with their decision, your bracelets will be allowed to be lowered in frequency, letting you have access to 10-15 percent of your chakra stores, instead of just 2 percent, as you need chakra to live as well as recover more quickly, though I presume you are already aware of that. Do you adhere to these conditions?"

"Affirmative, Sandaime-sama." She was chained, but at least she wasn't sentenced to death for now, doing her damned best to keep her composure and keep thoughts of Danzo being alive in the back, dark corners of her encephalon.

"Good, now anything else you have to add before I turn it back over to Tsunade-hime?" Inquired the man, kindly being considerate on her behalf.

"I have more things to share with you, but I would much rather have Inoichi Yamanaka come in and see all of it through my eyes. Please. I don't know if I could be able to say it all...at once." Sakura practically begged in a hushed tone, averting her eyes to look downcast at the intruding metal circles and metal rods and parts intricately attached to , trying to keep herself composed. She would not be able to explain all that has happened, or why some things have happened without surely breaking down like she did when Obito rescued her.

The occupants exchanged glances amongst each other, "That is alright Sakura." Not Surprised they knew her by name, she saw Jiraiya came down from his perch on the window, popping his back as he announced before leaving the room, "I'll send for Ibiki to deal with the hostage too then."

Sakura tilted her head with much strain to peer at her invisible appendage, feeling a sense of anxiety over knowing she still felt no esthesia from her right side back when she woke up to meet Team Minato.

"Tsu-Tsunade-sama..." The girl began, shaking and feeling a cold sweat coming washing over her. "What were the fallouts for the surgery?" She almost did not want to know for fear of the worst, but her mind persisted on knowing how her life was affected as a medical ninja.

The addressed woman exhaled a long sigh, uncrossing her arms and adjusting her posture, signaling Sakura she had unfavorable news to break to her.

"We had to shave your hair off to do the surgery, thus you are heavily bandaged on the head to let the sutures heal. With you being found by Obito, you had gone with the swelling and internal bleeding for several hours. Your brain's left hemisphere was the side mostly affected, which controls mobility and nerve impulses for the right side of your body..." Sakura was already bracing for impact of harsh news, whatever it may be. Keeping eyes on Tsunade, her mind racing for answers ahead of the blonde. "Due to your prolonged situation without immediate help, the nerves were nearly ineffective, though some were salvageable, and we had to work on bringing back sensation to them. However, with you housing bijuu chakra, it gives you a heightened immune system, which made the stem cells used on you to grow back and heal the tissue and nerves rejected as foreign objects. With my own proficiency of medical ninjutsu, there's only so much chakra can do for dead nerves, thus, why I used stem cells. When that failed, I had to remove them as they were beginning to rot and affect your right leg further in the process, as the loss of sensation traveled down farther." The busty woman paused, walking over to where Sakura's right arm lay, uncovering the impending reality, as Sakura saw what her arm and leg had become.

"We put you under hard anesthetics that temporarily blocked off the demon's chakra to weaken your defenses and created metal prosthetic rods and parts that are intricately connected on your skin and intravenously as well. Several spinal disks were replaced with metal ones to help connect the metal parts to your brain to allow you to have use of them. You underwent a couple more procedures while in your comatose state to help save your arm and leg. The sensations will come back within a week or so, you'll be able to feel touch and move your fingers again, then you may practice walking and putting stress on your body with exercise while in rehab."

Sakura just stared at her alienated appendages. There was more metal than actual skin. Calming her breathing, Sakura looked at the patient blonde. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama. I am grateful for your hard work and efforts on my behalf." At least she would be still able to move around, to which she really was grateful for, but still was scarred upon seeing what she had become.

'There are ninjas without appendages at all and other mishaps, but why utilize so much on me?'

"Don't thank me yet, brat. That's if all goes well. I should have asked for your consent before experimenting on you as well, but I figured I'd try something else I've been working on. Though this is the first time it's ever been done, there may be lots of flaws and chances for other things to go wrong. First you have to prove yourself innocent."

"But, why would you do so much to keep me alive and give me my mobility if I could be an enemy?" Sakura asked, watching her mentor's reactions cautiously.

"Hmm, because I am a doctor. I do my best to keep others healthy and well, plus I would like to know how you got that Yin-seal."

Before anything else could be said, Jiraiya stepped in the room followed by Ibiki Morino and Inoichi Yamanka of the interrogation unit.

Now she had to see her best friend's dad. Given it was her own fault for asking he be there, she felt the anger rise up from her core with so much overwhelming occurrences happening.

She was the one there for Ino when her father was killed by the war, letting her beautiful face hide in her shoulder as she rubbed her back, encouraging her to cry out her pain for her loss. She was there when everyone died, dropping like flies as the war progressed. Granted Ino was one of the few to have survived, her screams and cries sent Sakura in a fit of nostalgia, losing focus of the world for a moments notice. Inoichi left an impact on her life as he was always kind and caring of her like a daughter as well, even when her and Ino drifted apart by rivalry at the academy, only to later come together again bonded like sisters.

"Sakura." The Sandaime directly asked for her attention.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." The girl responded almost absent-mindedly.

"We would like to begin now. I will take off the bracelets to allow you to summon your hostage and documents before we delve into your mind." Without wasting time, the Hokage carefully lifted her wrist as if she would shatter into a million shards, which she felt she would at that point. Undoing the bracelets from both wrists, Sakura concentrated. "I will forewarn you, I have obtained a doujutsu that will shock you all, but please know all your questions will be answered once my mind is looked at. With that, she paid no heed to her surroundings and focused on the center of the room, activating her Mangekyou sharingan, "Kamui!"

All the inhabitants were speechless, others drawing out weapons and closing the distance with having them placed where her neck was. Sakura made no movement, as the Sandaime was shell-shocked and Jiraiya had was already in his Sage mode, Inoichi and Ibiki, still on offense, their kunai threatening.

No one breathed or blinked, Sakura knowing this would be the reaction, still summoned the hostage who was trapped for over 4 days in the other dimension, for all to see in the middle of the room as he was lying on the floor, evidently exhausted, wounded and hungry. His breathing was labored, confusion and resentment plastered on his face as he scanned the room. Once he saw Sakura, his face contorted into a full on glare, snarling out vulgar at her. He wasted no time in lunging for her, seeing as she was in a vulnerable state, but was caught by Minato in mid-air. Minato threw him back on the ground before the assailant was able to fight back. Ibiki and Inoichi withdrew their kunai from Sakura, Jiraiya deactivated his Sage mode. Ibiki then took over, grabbing the Kiri hostage with both hands behind his back, pushing him forward towards the interrogation unit for questioning.

"That was certainty a surprise, as your eyes appear to be normal in the first place." The Sandaime noted after a moment, inhaling from his pipe.

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, but your reactions towards the Uchiha's doujutsu was much more aggressive than confronting me about the bijuu chakra and Yin-seal. That to me makes me wonder if the relationship between your village and the clan is already dwindling or not.

At her perceptive response, Jiraiya and Tsunade looked at her with piqued curiosity, while Minato glanced at his superiors, baffled by what she was implying, expressing things as if she was already aware of something. Inoichi just regarded her with a stern gaze, looking at Sandaime for further instruction.

"We have much to discuss now don't we, Sakura?" Earning a slight nod for Inoichi, the Yamanaka began looking inside her head.

He began swimming through her subconscious, coming across a forlorn-looking figure made of white lines, her brow reading "Inner". Sakura's alternate personality eyed the figure with sadness, guiding him through the maze to show him and the others in the room of her life, leaving out some parts for Sakura to tell Sandaime another time when they were alone. She was already meddling in the past and was affecting so many lives just by her interference. She and Inner did not want her friends to not be born or have other negative alterations occur by revealing every single detail for all to see.

They know.

They all know now. She was a little girl sent back into the past. She had jumped from one war to another. They now knew how she came to be who she was, how she obtained the Sharingan, what happened to her loved ones, how the Uchiha were massacred, how Naruto impacted her life, among other things.

Throughout the whole process she was mute and unmoving, not acknowledging anyone even after it was all finished. The Sandaime said some words about his sorrow for her loss, but she was too far gone for her to even comprehend them. She wanted to be alone.

She wanted to be alone and cry. So she did. She cried for those she lost, for those she failed to save. She cried while regarding her new appendages disdainfully. She cried for hours in the hospital bed. They all left her alone and she was plagued by her thoughts and post-traumatic stress disorder. Sakura was broken, and was left to face her saudade. Her mouth opened several times in silent screams. Her head throbbed of the weight and pain. Her jaw ached from her hysterics. She missed them. Oh gods, she missed them all. She still did not know why she was in the past, but it didn't change her feelings of solitude and failure. Sakura had no memory of falling asleep amidst her hysterics, but sleep wasn't any better.

Day 10, she was able to flex her fingers and wiggle her toes.

Day 18, she could get out of bed and walk a few shaky steps before toppling over, usually taking any obstacles with her.

By day 22, she was allowed to walk outside the rehab center, being watched over by a couple of ninja from a distance, never helping her if she fell. It never mattered to her either way, she was determined to do things on her own accord, refusing any help as she continuously struggled. She welcomed the pain, it was an old friend of hers, they've known each other for years. Sakura was just happy to be out of bed, her head healed completely, the bandages off as her head was covered with a hat, a layer of pink hair growing underneath. Her hospital gown was replaced with a simple red shirt and black shorts, leaving her feet barefoot to feel the soft grass tickle her toes.

Taking another couple steps, her foot caught a small pebble and sent her faltering again, catching herself with force. "Hey! Let me help you with that!" Came a boy's voice to her left. She caught sight of him running towards her appearing to be around her physical age, with short curly black hair, obsidian eyes adorned with the longest eyelashes Sakura has ever seen. Without letting her respond, the boy reached her, wrapping his left arm around her waist and adjusting her right arm full of metal around his shoulder, gently lifting Sakura up while supporting her weight. He gave her a cheerful smile, to which Sakura lost track of her thought for a second.

"I-I'm fine, I don't need help, thanks." She tried to retort, but the boy wouldn't have any of it.

"No, you aren't fine." He replied sternly. "I am not going to leave a person to fend for themselves like that. I think you're pushing yourself pretty hard, it won't do you much good if you don't have a break or two in between."

'What have I gotten into now?' Sakura thought with apprehension. She did not want to be a liability and needed to get her mobility back in full use if she wanted to be useful.

"I'm pretty stubborn when I want to do things on my own."

"Well I'm known to be quite stubborn on helping others as well." He replied with a cheeky grin, continuing to guide her forward with most of her weight on him.

"I don't even know you." She retorted, getting irritated, trying to stop him from carrying her forward, it didn't help he was a bit taller than her so her feet barely brushed the earth.

"That's strange, I thought it was rude to ask for someone's name without saying yours first."

Not wanting to argue with the kid that he was the one to intervene on her space first, she begrudgingly said, "Sakura Haruno."

"It's my pleasure to meet you Sakura, I'm Shisui Uchiha."

That concludes this chapter! With over 8,000 words, this took me almost a whole week to compose. Anyways I hope you all enjoyed my new chapter and I also hope you all had wonderful times with the holidays!

Adieu!