Life continued like normal after that, other than the occasional nod from Shikamaru as they crossed paths. It happened more often than not, probably because the Nara preferred to stray away from his responsibilities.
Sarada was showing progress to where she could use medical ninjutsu chakra for a couple of seconds, but not to where she could revive the fish in front of her. Himari and Kei were in awe at her feats and couldn't help but ask her for help.
Unlike Sasuke, Sarada was rather giddy to lend help to those eager for knowledge. It was more than likely from the comradery she had gained from being around Himari and Kei. It was obvious that they weren't adept at medical ninjutsu, but were giving it their all. Once in a while, they would get flickers of green in their chakra, which was a major improvement.
Although Sakura expected that their phenomenal chakra control would aid them greatly... but it seemed that other elements were at work. Their quirks had melded with their chakra, making it even harder since they had to separate their innate power and their chakra natures.
Other than that and getting along with her coworkers with a steady income, Sakura was focusing on ways to return. As much as she was happy to have her family and Hitoshi look around her hometown that she had thought to be unreachable. However, they didn't belong there.
She was heavily impaired since she couldn't access all the information she wanted to- nor wanted to ask for help from Sasuke Uchiha, not that she would admit.
What she wanted to focus on were the seals that had been created back in their world. Kei and Himari had created some bomb tags while Hitoshi, Kaminari, and Sakura made a plethora of other seals. All of them had bits of their chakra in them. If Sakura could come up with a reverse seal method that could latch onto the chakra, just like how summoning seals work, she could get them all back in no time.
So, during the practice times for Sarada, Kei, and Himari, Sakura would be working on her own seals. It was dangerous, of course. If anything were to go wrong, she could split herself into pieces. Sakura reasoned she didn't have to worry about time because the two worlds had the same time scale. One second passed in both worlds at the same time.
Still, on paper, the chakra it would take was astronomical. Not to mention, all five of them needed to be sent back. Only one person Sakura thought of could possibly be capable enough.
"Kaminari-sensei, " Sarada's voice floated from across the room, "Recently, I've shown my mom how I've been improving, and she said that she'd really like to meet you. She wants to give you her thanks."
Sakura paused for a second, wondering how it would possible to get out of it. If she refused, Karin might be stubborn enough to ask around to thank her in person. That might draw unnecessary attention, but on the other hand, there was a chance Karin could recognize her.
Thinking about it for a moment, Sakura set her pencil down and smiled at Sarada, "How about after next week's practice? I have quite a few things to do."
"Okay!" Sarada preened adorably, "I'll make sure to tell her!"
How was she related to Sasuke again?
Her next step was to independently create some sort of seal that would collect and store a massive amount of chakra. However, condensing so much chakra in one space (not inside of a person) could have adverse effects on the surrounding environment.
If the seal went beyond the capacity, it could blow up with the strength of possibly half of a bijuu bomb, if not more.
It would be dangerous, but it had to be done if she didn't want outside help. Sakura didn't mind seeing Sarada's first accomplishment in the medical field either.
So, Sakura couldn't help but weakly smile as she followed Sarada to her home. The girl's onyx eyes glimmered with excitement and pride, much unlike the cold and dim eyes of her father.
Standing before Sarada's front door, they took off their shoes and changed into slippers.
"Mom, I'm home!" Sarada exclaimed, her head turning every which way to catch the first glimpse of her mom.
Sakura shifted uncomfortably as she heard the quiet footsteps move closer to her. Unconsciously, her head tilted toward the ground.
"You must be the one teaching Sarada shosen. I'm Karin Uchiha."
Slowly, she lifted up her head and smiled brightly, "I'm Sakura Kaminari. Nice to meet you."
Sakura ignored the sound of glass shattering as the cup Karin was holding fell out of her hand.
Without a doubt, she was recognized for the second time. However, waiting around would only draw suspicions from her newest student.
"May I come in?" Sakura inquired politely, nodding her head toward the open door.
"Ah, yes!" Karin sputtered, "Don't mind me. I'll have the glass cleaned in no time."
Sakura felt slightly amused by Karin's reaction, although she hoped that it never happened in the first place. Instead, she drew water from the air, submerged the glass pieces in the water, and dumped it into the nearby trash can before allowing the water to settle in the dirt. "It's my apology for startling you."
Sarada beamed at her mom, "She, isn't she great? She's been helping me so much with my chakra control and healing!"
"Thank you, " Karin managed to say, "for helping my daughter... Would you like some tea?"
As Sakura could feel the atmosphere become more welcoming, she stepped into the Uchiha home. "Mmn, I would love some."
She sat down at the kitchen table, slowly observing the things around her. She looked at an antique fan on the wall with the Uchiha symbol, the several scrolls of what could be comparable to Chinese ink paintings, and old dinnerware set for only two.
Sarada had went upstairs to her room, probably understanding that adults needed privacy to talk things out.
"Do you know when your... husband will return?" Sakura asked as gently as she could without prodding.
Sasuke wasn't in the village for as far as she could tell, but that didn't mean he couldn't arrive suddenly.
Karin stopped what she was doing for a moment and looked down. "... I don't."
"Well, as long as I don't see him, " she hummed truthfully, not seeing any single memorabilia for Team 7.
That seemed to be the answer that Karin was no expecting as she spilled some of the tea while pouring it.
"You know, " Sakura sighed, "So I might as well not act dumb and hold back. I have my own family now too."
After Karin was done, they both sat down, chatting about their family and kids. Every so often they'd circumlocute around Sakura's identity, although it would take quite a bit of silence.
"I've heard rumors, but from my understanding it's true, " Karin drawled, her fingers tapping against her cup, "Naruto tried to use his own life to bring you back... But that was before he realized that you were alive elsewhere."
Karin then gestured blatantly to Sakura sitting before her, "Nor did I expect you to be back."
"He... what? He wasn't supposed to... That wasn't supposed to happen, " she muttered allowed to herself.
Sakura suddenly felt that the tea she was having tasted like blood. She quickly pushed it away and hugged her stomach to calm down. God, her heart felt like it was being crushed.
Karin quickly got up to help Sakura, giving her some medicine to ease her. They were relaxants, probably prescribed to her because of how potent they were. As an Iryonin, she couldn't help but give Karin a careful glance.
"... Would you like to take a walk?"
"Mmn, that would be nice."
(A/N: ASIDYAGD. HOW HAS IT BEEN SO LONG SINCE I'VE UPDATED. I SWEAR IT WAS ONLY YESTERDAY. I HATE FINALS AND SCHOOL AND CRIPPING GENSHIN ADDIC- Ooh, ALSO, ALSO:
Looking for hot, whale Genshin players in my area server (America/NA).
I'm currently AR 45 with almost 50k in adventure exp. My artifacts are ass, but I have about 30-ish fragile resin.
My playing schedule is wonky because of school. I also like maining Ninguang.
Don't be afraid to slide into my Dm's and drop your UID. 🥵 )