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The Second Seal

Loud cries echoed all around her. The sound of panic reverberated, then cries for help. A loud buzzing in her ear as what felt like chakra approached her. Cold, distant hands grabbed hold of her, lifting her none too gently. Carried like a sack of potatoes over someone's shoulder, she'd guess, as they leapt from rooftop to rooftop. A feeling of nausea at the vertigo of moving so fast, even though she knew she'd gone just as fast, if not faster, under her own steam before. And pain. A lot of pain.

Then finally, finally, peaceful darkness that overcame her as a finger was pressed into the back of her neck, chakra knocking her out completely.

She soon became aware of the intrusion into her mind, prodding at her unconsciousness and rousing her to wakefulness. Even though her Inner was gone, and hadn't been a presence in her mind for years, a remnant still remained in the form of a mental awareness that most didn't have. Unless they were a Yamanaka, or were highly trained T&I ninja, like Ibiki. So when someone started poking around in her mind, Sakura shortly became aware of it.

They poked, they prodded, they saw things that any interrogator worth their salt would be able to find easily enough. She sensed a lot of disbelief at some of the things they saw, and knew the moment they realised that she was watching them. They tried to push her back under, but Sakura stood firm, a strong barrier in the storm that was their battle in her mind. In the end, she pushed them out, just as she did with Ino years ago at the chuunin exams, and like she still did sometimes whenever Ino wanted to practice a new technique on a strong mind.

(the anmitsu, dango, or whatever sweets she picked afterwards were totally worth the migraine that she easily healed after, anyway)

Sakura followed the intruder upwards, her mind moving slowly, yet becoming alert as she started to become aware of her surroundings. The scent of bleach and medicine assailed her nose, leading her to believe that she was in a hospital. Soft sheets below her and the pillow under her head lent credence to that assumption. Eyes cracked open and she saw walls that were familiar, even though she knew that Konoha's hospital walls had a different colour scheme now, since Pein's attack had forced them to rebuild.

Turning her head to the side, Sakura froze at the sight of a person she hadn't seen in a couple of years, and quite frankly had never expected to see again. The Sandaime Hokage, an alive Sarutobi Hiruzen to boot, stared down at her with a thoughtful expression on his face. That expression cleared once he realised she was awake, and that genial smile she remembered so well from her childhood, graced his features.

"Haruno Sakura," he greeted her. "It's a pleasure to meet a future shinobi of this village."

Sakura's mind was blank, still trying to process his presence, so it really wasn't her fault when she uttered a graceless, "Huh?" The Hokage chuckled at that.

"You are in the past, my dear," he told her. "The seal on your back, where you were stabbed. It is what brought you here."

Sakura sat up slowly, still processing, but felt a bit more in control of her coherency now. "The seal," she murmured. "It's a time travel one?"

The Sandaime shrugged. "There are some equations on it that would suggest that," he told her. "I've sent for our resident fuinjutsu master to come have a look at it, hopefully he won't be too long."

Fuinjutsu master? Sakura scrunched her nose and asked plaintively, "You don't mean that pervert Jiraiya, do you?"

Hiruzen laughed loudly at that, and said apologetically, "I'm afraid I do. But no matter that he is indeed a self-proclaimed pervert, he is the best we have in understanding and unravelling seals."

"That's right, I certainly am!" a loud, booming voice declared.

Standing in the doorway was a proudly grinning Jiraiya, though he turned into a leering Jiraiya as soon as he saw Sakura. "Well, who is this lovely flower we have here?" he asked, winking at her. "You asked for the services of the great Jiraiya, my sweet?"

Sakura groaned and face palmed, whilst Sarutobi sighed at his former student's antics. "Cut the showmanship, Jiraiya," he said seriously. "Get in here and close the door behind you, if you would."

Jiraiya's face turned serious at the Sandaime's tone, and he obeyed. "This is Haruno Sakura," Hiruzen introduced. "She has a seal on her back that has brought her at least twenty five years into the past. And before you say anything, it was confirmed with a Yamanaka mind scan."

Jiraiya gaped at her then, like a fish out of water, and it was mildly entertaining. The only thing that kept Sakura from laughing at his expression was the fact that she was shocked as well. So far back? Then that meant… Calculating in her head, she realised that the Third War had likely only recently started. Frankly, she was surprised that Jiraiya was still in the village, instead of already out on the front lines.

"Show me," the Sannin demanded suddenly, and Sakura turned, lifting up the bottom of her hospital gown, whilst also arranging the bedsheets so that he couldn't perve on her bum.

Calloused fingers poked at the seal as he studied it. Jiraiya sent his chakra through it, causing Sakura to stiffen every now and then, and after what felt like ages, but the steadily ticking clock on the wall said was only about twenty minutes. Every single time Jiraiya interacted with the seal, Sakura felt it twist. Eventually, once he was finished prodding at it, he stood up straight with a rather grim sounding 'hmm' that had Sakura turning to see the frown on his face.

"It's not stable," he told them after a moment. "In fact, it could flare up again at any moment. Where it will take you, I have no idea… Further into the past? Back to your own time? We'll only know when it happens."

"When?" Sakura asked.

"When," Jiraiya confirmed. "There are absolutely no ifs, ands, or buts about it. No matter how… lovely… a butt it might be."

Jiraiya grinned lecherously, letting Sakura know that even though he'd been examining the seal, he hadn't missed the opportunity to perve, either. Anger flared up, and Sakura easily lashed out at the man who was still within reach, sending him flying into the wall.

Hiruzen chuckled, even as Jiraiya groaned. "Monstrous strength," he grumbled. "Let me guess, Tsunade is your sensei?"

"My shishou," Sakura acknowledged, pushing her hair aside to reveal her seal. "I'm her apprentice. Though I've officially learned everything she can teach me, there's always more to learn."

"Well, you certainly have her strength," Hiruzen said, his amusement still evident in his voice. "Jiraiya. Can you get back over here so we can discuss the seal more? Preferably leaving your… flirtations… over there."

Jiraiya sighed dramatically. "I suppose I could hold back for now, sensei," he said with a wink in Sakura's direction, causing her eye to twitch in annoyance.

An hour later found Sakura back in her own clothes, for the most part, with Jiraiya hovering over her, examining an expanded form of the seal. Thankfully, he was keeping his lecherous thoughts to himself, even though she sat topless before him. It seemed that seals were enough to distract him from his perverseness. Temporarily at least. Finally, he collapsed his analysis, allowing Sakura to put her shirt back on.

"That thing is a mess," he declared. "There's a mix of Uzushio and Konoha seals, and even some that I suspect are Kiri and Iwa in origin. And that's not including all the stuff that's unique to whomever it was that did this. Honestly, I don't know what I can do to fix this, not without years of study. Or at least another set of eyes."

"Kushina might be able to help," Hiruzen suggested.

"Maybe," Jiraiya said. "But I doubt it. Kushina's brilliant with her sealing, she can invent them left, right, and centre. But she struggles when it comes to understanding someone else's seal work, and analysis isn't her strong point. She really doesn't have the patience for it, for one. Frankly, sensei, Minato would be better for this."

"Minato is still out on the front," Hiruzen said, then sighed. "His rotation is up in five months, and I fully intended for him to take on a gennin team at that point. As it is, he and his apprentice are needed out there. For the moment, at least."

He turned to Sakura then. "Until then, are you willing to have Jiraiya study it as much as he can before it activates again, as he has suggested?" he asked.

Sakura levelled a 'look' at the Sannin. "As long as that perverted old man can keep his comments to himself, and his hands only on the seal, I think I can put up with him," she conceded.

"Hey!" Jiraiya said, offended. "I am not old! I'll have you know I'm only thirty three! I'm still a young buck! I'm in my prime!"

Sakura just shrugged, noting the amusement in the Sandaime's face at this exchange. "Well, I remember you as a dirty old man," she said. "You were what? Fifty, when I was only twelve?"

"But that's in the future!" Jiraiya complained, then started to a stop. "Wait, remember? What's that supposed to mean?"

Sakura shut her mouth and Hiruzen sighed. "No poking into the future," the Hokage ordered. "At least, not until I've discussed this with my council. By all accounts from the briefing I got from Yamanaka Souta, the future Sakura came from is peaceful, even if the intervening time was tumultuous. Jiraiya, can I trust you, and I mean trust you, to handle things properly?"

Jiraiya's expression turned serious, even as both of them had failed to notice the rather disgusted look Sakura's face had taken on at the mention of the Hokage's council.

"You can trust me, sensei," Jiraiya said solemnly, and Hiruzen nodded.

"Alright, now we can…"

Whatever the Sandaime was about to say was cut off as Sakura suddenly let out a cry of pain.

"What is it?" Jiraiya demanded. "Is it the seal?"

Sakura nodded, clenching her teeth from the pain. "This… happened before… when I came… back. Argh!" she said between gasps, before letting out another cry.

Collapsing onto the floor before them, Sakura could feel the darkness of unconsciousness threatening her again, and she fought it as hard as she possibly could.

"Sakura! Listen to me!" she could hear Jiraiya's voice calling out to her. "If you get back to your own time, remember to tell someone to check the twenty second gate of the seal. That might help. Also, if you come back here, we'll…"

Whatever he was going to say next was lost to her as the darkness finally won and the world around her went black.

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