I know that the picture has nothing to do with this, but whatever.
Chapter 3:
To Experiment With Strength and The Bell Test of Fate
Early the next morning...2:30 AM
Sakura was on the verge of collapsing by the time she felt like she was good. She had trained nonstop the whole night, with only two two minute water breaks and three minutes to meditate so she could replenish a little chakra. When she finally finished, she grinned at the sight. The training ground she used was full of cracks, medium size craters, and debris.
She beamed proudly and fell, laying on her back in the middle of the broken training field.
She looked up at the slowly brightening sky. The sun was just rising over the horizon and the sky was clear of clouds.
Sakura sighed happily.
Peace was all there is in this time line. I miss this, She thought, happily remembering the good times she had in her first life with her friends and family.
Then Sakura's face became grim and she gritted her teeth, pissed.
No. As I'm laying here, doing nothing, my enemies are scheming and readying themselves to destroy my home, She thought, angry at herself for indulging in selfish bliss.
Stiffly, she attempted to sit up. Unfortunetly, she'd pushed herself to her limits while she was training and fell back down. She breathed heavily and gazed sadly at the bright and peaceful sky.
Hey, Mato, She called. You there?
There was a short moment of silence before she replied.
Yeah, I'm here. What do you want?
Sakura was quiet, thinking, before she spoke. What happened to everyone else?
Sakura couldn't see her, but Mato raised an eyebrow, curiously. What do you mean?
I mean, I'm here in this time, but what happened to the others. Naruto, my friends, my parents, She said quietly and paused, daring herself to say it. And Sasuke.
Mato stayed silent, pondering on what to say. It was silent for so long, Sakura could feel the blood pulsing in her neck and hear the calm beat of her heart.
It felt like hours but was actually agonizing seconds until Mato finally spoke.
I don't know, She said quietly. Her face was serious, but her eyes looked happy and sad at the same time. She smiled gently. But Sakura couldn't see it.
Mato decided to change the subject. What's up with you? It's not like you to talk. Much less ask questions, She stated, furrowing her brow in confusion.
Sakura shrugged. I'm just curious, She said, nonchalantly. Only a while ago had she been gazing sadly at the sky. She was obviously hiding her true feelings. She felt like she would cry if she actually let them out.
Mato shrugged it off and Sakura spoke again.
She asked, How did you that?
Mato gave her a look. Hm?
How did you bring me back in time? What about time pardoxes and stuff?
Mato paused to think, pondering on how to explain. Well, I wanted to avoid anything that could happen to your own body first, She explained. I should start from the beginning.
There are three critical parts that make us human. A sound mind, body and soul. I wanted to leave your corpse undamaged. Or at least not more damaged than it already was. A human can not live without a soul. Since you were already dying at the time, I thought it would be okay if I also took your mind. Just before your soul could crossover, I took your mind and soul and traveled into the past.
Sakura nodded, listening intently as Mato continued.
I traveled to the past to the day before Team 7 was formed. When I stuffed - put, Mato corrected frantically. - your soul and mind into your 12 year old body, your 12 year old self fell asleep.
Sakura broke in. What happened to my 12 year old self? Then Sakura thought about something and asked worriedly, Was it transfered into my dead body?
Mato shook her head. No, I would have to do that manually. It's still there, Mato assured her. Since your 17 year old mind and soul was more mature and stronger, it dominated your twelve year old body and took control. Your twelve year old soul and mind are just unconscious. You could say they're in a coma.
I also wanted to avoid a time paradox... Mato had to pause. She had to think of a reason, but she coudn't think of an excuse. For various reasons. Whatever you do in this time could affect the future. But time paradoxes can only be caused if a body with both a mind and soul travel into a different time.
Sakura didn't understand why Mato wanted to avoid a paradox, since that was what they were basically doing, but she ignored it and shook her head. Something else was pulling at her curiosity. Her brow furrowed in confusion. I don't get it. Then where is my twelve year old mind and soul?
It's there. I mingled your soul and mind together. Lucky for you, it didn't cause any deformities, Mato said, smiling mischievously.
Sakura sweat dropped nervously. What do you mean by deformities?
Mato shook her head at her, mischievously and smiled again. Oh never mind!
Sakura shrugged it off and realized something. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed before. What happened to Inner?! She asked, panic in her voice.
Huh? Mato said and looked to her left. Oh, you mean it? Yeah, she's here. I just put her on mute. She's really annoying.
In Mato's white realm inside Sakura's mind, Inner stood a few feet away from Mato, chained to a steel post with metallic duck tape over her mouth. She was wriggling in her captivity of chains and her eyes narrowed at her in anger. She tried to yell out something, but it was muffled from the duck tape.
Mato walked over to her and ripped the tape off her mouth. Inner gasped and cursed in pain.
Damn it! That fucking hurt! She glared at Mato and added, Next time you want to exclude me from the conversation, you can suck my -
She was silenced when Mato smirked and happily slapped the duck tape over her mouth again.
Sakura let out a sigh of relief, knowing Inner was still with her and chuckled, imagining what they did in her head and matching the dialogue.
Mato turned away from Inner's struggling body and put her hands on her hips. She said to Sakura, still smirking, See? Nothing to worry about.
Sakura nodded in relief as her eyelids flutter closed, and she drifted into another dreamless sleep.
6 hours and 50 minutes later...8:20 AM
Sakura awoke, eyes snapping open in surprise, to Inner screaming in her mind. SAKURA, WA-KEY, WA-KEY! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!
Shakily, Sakura sat up and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands. She yawned, "What time is it?"
Inner yelled grumpily and Sakura guessed it was because of what Mato did to her. It's time for you to get a fucking watch! Now get your ass moving! It's past eight!
Sakura stretched her arms and legs out and yawned again. So what? Kakashi's usually like 3 hours late, She said.
Inner face palmed and gritted her teeth. You were supposed to meet up at 5, Dumbass, She said, frustrated.
Sakura yawned again and scratched her back. It took her a few seconds to process this.
Then her eyes widened and she abruptly stood up. She thought, I'm going to be late!
She took one step, but stumbled. She looked down at her sore body frustratedly. Sakura gritted her teeth and reluctantly, through the pain, made her way into town.
She wasn't going to fight Kakashi in an inconvenient, dirty, torn dress.
Nope.
A little later...8:30 AM
Kakashi turned to look back at Sakura, who was several yards away, running full speed towards them. He immediately noticed her new attire. And it wasn't a girly dress like before.
The day they met, after their meeting, Sakura went straight to the store. Well not straight. She had gone home and designed her new clothes herself, designed for flexibility and comfort. She left and gave her designs to a family friend who owned a big clothing store in town and payed them in advanced to make her clothes. She payed extra, so they would have it done by tomorrow morning.
(A/N: Gomen. I am too lazy to bother describing Sakura's new outfit. She wears a smaller version of her clothes from Naruto the movie: The Last. So just picture 12 year old Sakura in that! She still has long hair though. On with the story!)
She stopped next to Naruto, resting her hands on her knees and taking deep breaths. Kakashi and Naruto stared at her while Sasuke continued to ignore them as usual.
"Sakura, you're three hours late," Kakashi said.
Sakura looked up and glared at him, not harshly as she did to Sasuke though. It was more tired and grumpy.
"Please," She scoffed. "I bet you got here minutes before I did." Sakura's body suddenly stiffened slightly at what she said.
Crap, She thought, panicked, still keeping a straight face. He doesn't know that I know him. Did he notice? Dear Kami, please don't notice!
"Hm," Kakashi didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything to that. You can't beat the facts. But how did she know that? She didn't even see him come appear out of no where like the other two. She arrived about ten minutes later.
"Fine," He said, brushing it off. He already knew he was infamous for being really late than the designated time. She probably heard about it from some other people. Then again, it doesn't hurt to be a little more cautious. He would find out some other time.
"As punishment for being late, I won't explain anything to you on what we're doing. You're going to have to figure that out on your own," He instructed sternly.
Sakura shrugged. She could guess on what they were doing...and how it would end.
"But," he added. "I'll give a hint for the test."
Sasuke and Naruto looked at him in shock. "Huh?"
Kakashi leaned towards her, ignoring the two, and whispered, "Look underneath the underneath."
Sakura frowned. Why would he tell me this?
OK," Kakashi continued, straightening. "When I say start, you start."
Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto, who was grinning confidently, nodded.
"Ready," Kakashi warned. "...Start!"
And they disappeared.
Sakura hid several yards away, covering herself from view by standing behind thick branches high in a tree. From where she was standing, she had the perfect view of Kakashi, who stood calmly in the middle of the field near a creek. Then Naruto came in like a wrecking ball.
Loud and destructive.
I'll wait, She thought as she watched the scene with amusement and she smirked confidently. Patience is a virtue. He's going to give us another chance anyway. I'll test my strength when he's done with him.
Outwardly, her face showed disgust as she thought of him. She couldn't even say his name. There was a dreadful feeling in her chest, but she ignored it.
Before she knew it, Kakashi had already disappeared.
Sakura's eyes widened as she felt a presence behind her. She quickly turned to find Kakashi making a hand sign. Leaves fell and she suddenly felt very tired, enough to sleep right on the spot.
As she started to fall back, she realized he was casting a genjutsu and as tired as she was, she used as much strength she could muster and broke the genjutsu just as she landed.
She yelped in pain and sat up.
Damn, She thought, exasperated as she ignored the stinging in her back. Should've seen that one coming.
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I'm sorry. I have decided to reedit everything and cut the chapters short.
I know.
I'm evil.