She came to her senses with a spoon shoved halfway down her throat.
If that wasn't confusing enough, then she also had seven other witnesses all peering at her curiously with black eyes half hidden behind manes of pink hair as she choked on whatever the hell had just been in her mouth. What was going on? Small feet stamped on the ground one after another, and soon enough she was being stampeded by a herd of pink-haired children who, oddly enough, seemed somewhat similar in height to her.
"Onee-san!"
"NEE-CHAN!"
"Sakura-nee!"
Her heart clenched painfully for a split second, the ever constant ache in her chest racking up a notch as these children called her the same thing that Naruto and Sasuke had before... before the fall... before they'd failed... before she'd lost everything. Sakura blinked, taking a gulp of water as soon as she could, barely audible sounds escaping her lips as she tried to figure out what the hell was going on. "Huh?"
She sounded so intelligent.
The last thing she remembered was... Obito. That was right. Obito had been staring at her, one rinnegan and one sharingan spinning dangerously as Kaguya approached, ready to wipe out the last two living people on the planet aside from herself. The sealing formula they'd laboured over for months had been under her feet... the one Naruto had entrusted to her, along with his hopes and dreams – one designed to send her back to before the whole nightmare had begun – and it had lit up in a flare of light before she'd ended up... wherever the hell she'd ended up.
A horrible weight settled in her gut. Wherever she was, it most certainly wasn't her – Haruno Sakura's – residence, where she and Obito had been aiming for. She was supposed to be in her younger body, ready to correct the timeline and save them all. She was meant to be the hero, no matter how badly the word burned her tongue. She was no hero. Not by a long shot, but she'd have to be one. The hero Naruto should've been... but he was gone... along with everyone else too. Even Obito was gone too, the last signs of him being the chakra which had carried her over to... someplace she wasn't supposed to end up. She was alone... all alone in the big bad world...
Sakura was nothing if not adaptable, and she quickly took stock of her situation, pushing down all her reservations. She'd make do with what she had. There was no other option. Fear curled in her gut, hands curling into fists. She had to, if she wanted to see her old friends at the end of everything. Just like Naruto would've wanted... like he'd have done if he were there. He'd have adapted, and then tried to save as many people as he could. That was just the kind of person he was. The kind of person she'd have to be. She couldn't let any of them down. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, her gaze locking onto the bright bulbs of the lights above them as if they could will her sadness away. She needed a distraction, and the room itself proved to be enough of one by itself.
The walls around her were a faded beige colour, a black tiled kitchen tucked in the corner of the room, low table right in front of where she sat. Seven sets of eyes stared at her, seven mouths having just let out a bellow of some form of endearment whilst she'd been busy choking. They'd called her sister. She had siblings... she wasn't alone in the house. The silence wasn't suffocating her. Childhood memories weren't eating away at her resolve. Pink hair obscured her vision, hands pawing at her, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"I'm fine," she mumbled eventually, eyeing the girls calling her 'sister', needing space as she struggled to stop herself from drowning in the tidal wave of emotions threatening to overcome her. She wasn't on her own. "Stop crowding." She'd always been afraid of being on her own... being left behind... again.
Something had gone wrong with their seal. That much was obvious. Sakura Haruno didn't have siblings. She was an only child... well, in the last dimension she'd lived in. Evidently something had gone seriously wrong with their calculations when they'd been dreaming up the idea of time travel – because clearly she hadn't just crossed time, but a dimension or two as well. She'd never met anyone else with her exact colouring of hair before, and the seal had been designed to shoot her back into her own body. So it was definitely her body. She was just in the complete and utter wrong dimension.
"Sakura, honey?" a soft voice called, and she turned to face the owner of the unfamiliar voice. "You sure? You look a bit peaky..."
Soft straight pink locks were styled up into a bun, a few loose strands framing a face which seemed oddly familiar, jade green eyes staring at her warmly as the woman waited for Sakura to jolt out of her stupor.
"Kaa-chan..." The word fell out of her lips almost instinctively, her mind somehow conjuring up the name of the woman in front of her – her mother – and she wasn't Mebuki Haruno. She was Misa, no last name. "I'm fine." A bright smile lit up her lips, despite the pain in her chest. Everything was gone. The truth of the situation hit home in that instant. She was no longer a Haruno... she'd given up that name. Her heart clenched painfully at the thought, but then a set of small arms wrapped around her, and she reminded herself she was a ninja, and they were nothing if not adaptable. Maybe it was for the best... not to be surrounded by familiarity... to be taunted by things long past.
"Saku-nee!" Somewhat spiky pink hair brushed against her arm, the style reminding her somewhat of her dearly departed Sasuke... well, if he'd let his hair grow out that long. There were a few shorter bits of hair spiking up in the traditional duck butt, the rest falling messily down her back. The thought brought a small smile to her lips, a wistful one. She missed them, but they'd already been gone for far too long. She was used to the pain the thoughts of them brought. Maybe she'd given up being a Haruno, but she'd already been somewhat prepared for that. She'd been prepared to throw everything away, and she had. Though it seemed the universe had actually given her something back instead for once – a family. More than she'd been expecting.
"Mio-chan," she mumbled, the name coming to her as though she'd known it her whole life, and then Sakura started patting her head awkwardly. How were siblings supposed to interact again? Sakura racked her brain, trying to think of any sort of sibling love she'd witnessed, biting her lip when she nearly drew blank. Her fingers moved almost of their own volition, prodding against her newfound sister's forehead. Forehead pokes. She could pull those off. Those were simple enough. "Thank you, I'm fine now," she said, peering around the room they were gathered in. It looked to be a kitchen, dining, and living room of sorts, all crammed into one average-sized space, and that could only mean one thing. Her new family weren't quite as well off as her old one... but that was OK, Sakura thought to herself. She could change that when she became a ninja again... well, she could certainly try, though it might be hard – considering she now seemed to have nine siblings to provide for.
Nine.
She was four-years-old. Sakura didn't know how she knew, but she did. It was like she'd been living there for years already rather than a matter of minutes, memories filtering through her brain as she sat there. She was the eldest of them all, born the first of three. She was a triplet, along with Mio and Akira, her sisters... partners in crime too, if her memories were anything to go by. Her heart beat faster, her small smile breaking into a soft grin concealed under the shock of pink hair falling in front of her face as she stared at the ground. She'd already lost everything, so it was an unexpected bonus to have seven bright faces staring at her with something akin to adoration. She had siblings, lots of them... something she'd always wanted, considering she'd been an only child before. She'd wanted a younger sister to share her adventures and secrets with. Now she had several, though she had the strangest sensation the novelty would soon wear off. They filled the gap everyone else had left somewhat, at least. She just had to ensure they—
Her mind ground to a halt, the hairs on the back of her neck pricking as she realised something she'd forgotten – something she'd overlooked.
Danzo... and other various creeps like Orochimaru.
They were alive now, along with the rest of the world, and she had siblings this time around. Danzo had to be the biggest concern. He was known for kidnapping orphans and other talented children, but she couldn't exactly stay a talentless child... not for what she knew was coming... and that meant she'd no doubt make it onto his radar, hopefully after she'd graduated from the academy, but if that happened then his greedy eyes would probably turn to her family. She had things to lose now, the main ones being her sisters. They were already precious to her. She already wasn't sure if she could live without them, some part of her clinging to them like a leech. They were her anchors in her new world.
Something inside her bristled at the idea of Danzo stealing them, like an angry cat uncurling from a nap. She was no longer a Haruno, and she didn't seem to have a father around to help support them along with their mother. There wasn't as much protection. Not for her, and not for her siblings.
Rage built inside her at the thought, and she quickly excused herself from the table, her feet guiding her almost instinctively to the room she shared with her sisters. It was an attic room, plain white futons rolled out on the floor, a single floor-length mirror propped in the corner. Nobody would touch her sisters. Sakura would make sure of that, despite the growing pit of fear in her stomach. She'd barely known her new flesh and blood siblings for more than a matter of minutes, and yet somehow she was already fiercely protective of them.
They were hers and god help anyone who tried to say otherwise.
Focus, Sakura told herself, trying to pull her thoughts out of the vicious spiral of mine, protect she'd fallen into. She was there to save the world and prevent a certain spiky long-haired Uchiha from accidentally unleashing Kaguya on them again. Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't be on their own this time around though. Sakura would ensure that – but, her mind had to repeat, her new siblings had to take priority. It was like it was hardwired into her new brain. Family first... but she supposed she could add Naruto and Sasuke to her family at some point... adopt them like the brothers they'd been to her in her last life.
Wasn't that a thought? Her last life... Not many people got more than one...
She approached the mirror, arms folded, her face serious as she glared into the reflective surface. Her eye twitched. What the hell had Obito done? Her gaze narrowed, hands reaching up to prod at the numerous spikes of hair sticking out all over the place. Gone was her nice silky straight hair – a reminder of her failure – replaced by a mane of untameable spikes reaching halfway down her back.
Black eyes glared venomously at her reflection.
Obito was so dead.
Red flickered into sight, three tomoe spinning viciously as her fury increased tenfold, annoyance marring her arguably much scarier face when the tomoe morphed into pinwheels.
Obito was so very very dead.