Chapter Text
The sudden thud and shake was the only warning before the very Earth herself seemed to rattle and disintegrate. Thick mountain air pressed onto Sakura's back, straining and intruding. Her body refused all commands to open her sealed eyelids and to just breathe. Her lungs are searing and burning. Igniting a fierce survival instinct.
Even though there is no ground under her, her legs wobble and shake. Bones too frail to support the muscle and fat connected to them.
Sakura's shaky hands hover over the hot liquid trailing down her neck. Bringing her calloused hand to her lips, Sakura sticks out her tongue to taste the mysterious fluid. Salty sweat and sweet iron assaults her taste buds. Blood...
.
.
The back of her head seemed to be determined to not find any comfortable perch on the ground. Her tore–when did that happen?–clothes rubbed against aching wounds and her pink hair clung to her high cheekbones. Sharp blades of grass tickled and brushed against her face. Sunlight warmed her chest and turned the inside of her lids a gentle orange–the kind from evening sunsets.
Her vibrant green eyes finally peeked through heavy eyelids, as though weights settled on top of them. Rich browns from strong tree trunks filled her vision along with the beams of light between them. Sakura immediately felt panic at the foreign surroundings.
Instincts inscribed into her from a young age take over. Begging her own leg to move, it dragged up. Dirt spewing upwards and soaring pain accompanied it. Right leg was the same situation, but with far less pain. She decides left arm before right.
When her left arm raised a startled yelp drew from her mouth, her dry throat caused the sound itself to hurt too. Sourly, Sakura acknowledged the big probability of sustaining multiple broken bones. Her right arm then raised unceremoniously, concluding that she must have taken the brunt of the fall on her left side. Pulling herself into a sitting position next, Sakura drew an unstable breath to somewhat ease her pain. At least she hasn't been impaled by a poisoned sword.
Running a swift diagnostic over her body she noted her dislocated shoulder, her fractured humerus, broken left femur bone, and very low chakra. First numbing her left arm, she popped her shoulder back into place and healed the fractured bone. Once that was done she brought feeling back into her limp limb and moved onto her left leg. The soft green glow admitted from her palm showed over her thigh, healing her femur.
The thin cuts scattered across her body will be saved for later. Sakura already assured herself that none were infected and her chakra was to be savored. Darting her doe eyes across her surrounds she found no threats. She also found nothing of any familiarity. Sakura didn't plan to meander aimlessly through this mysterious land.
She would head west. North-west, Konoha, home.
Yet when she stood, her knees buckled and she trotted backwards. Right on her ass with a hard thump. The sharp jagged pebbles bit into her butt and her palms which landed behind her for useless support.
The light, now blinding, showed onto her pale forehead illuminating the sweat slipping down her face. Sakura felt as though the world flipped upside down, as only to upset her–inconvenience her. But thoroughly confused by her state, Sakura checked her state for injuries once more. Sakura brought her hand up to the back of her head. Weaving her hand through the short matted pink locks she felt a thick warm liquid breaking through a dry layer of the same substance. Blood was the only conclusion she could draw.
Bringing the same hand to her face she tried to stare down at the fluid, but her eyes still hadn't focused. Only impotent blurs filled her vision. Fine, she will make use of my other senses in the meantime. First smell. Metallic.. iron.. metal. A smell Sakura has become unfortunately too accustomed to through her time as a healer and warrior. Blood . Fresh and old. No other need to confirm with taste either.
A critical head injury on the back left side of her head. Only further proving her working theory. But how did she fall? Sakura tried to gather any reminiscence of the cause, but only found one fleeting memory of darkness. Has she suffered severe memory loss or only minute memory loss?
She went over the basic information that was usually found on the documents of shinobi. Name... Haruno Sakura. Age... 17. Height... 5'3. Usual assignment team... Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto, Sai, Yamato, and... Uchiha Sasuke. Master... Princess Senju Tsunade. She is a medical combat nin... proficient in hand to hand combat and known for her absurd strength, mostly immune to genjutsu. This could all be false memories implanted into her. Or she could be missing grave details of her life, but it was what she was running with–it was all she had.
Activating her medical ninjutsu once more, Sakura brought her hand to the forgotten wound to begin her steady healing. She was concussed, likely was in a comatose state for hours. Maybe days. The damaged nerves behind her cracked skull affected her sight and memory. Great.
After she finished the precise healing she attempted to stand once more. This time went over much more successfully. No spinning, no throbbing, and no falling. At least she has done something right. Now beginning her track north-west Sakura was determined to head back to where her mentor would guide her and her friends encourage her. Konoha.
Home.
.
.
Already starting her track west was risky to be frank. Sakura mostly disregarded her less than small amount of chakra, her seal too is depleted. The mass of bubbling chakra and power that Sakura became acquainted and proud of was no more. Left as a mere sliver of chakra that is barely keeping her moving. This realization sprouted other questions on what she experienced.
Intensive battles and continuous back breaking medical procedures are basic conclusions to her depleted chakra yet there are only signs of a fall and not a battle on her body. Also medical procedures would not end with her taking a brutal fall into the middle of the deep woods.
Was it maybe a space-time ninjutsu? Is her luck really worse than Tsunade-shisou? If she was caught up in maybe a transportation jutsu then she could be weeks away from Konoha. Exasperated from the unknown of her situation, Sakura stopped walking ( Sakura walked instead of jumping from the trees to conserve chakra ) and listened for the sound of water.
Well, maybe her luck wasn’t too bad.
A rushing river is heard a few miles South. Even though it takes Sakura off track she knows her priorities. Wrapping her cloak tighter around her body as she walked south, Sakura wondered how much longer her torn clothing would last. The sleeveless red shirt, the light purple skirt, and black spandex shorts wouldn't last much longer. Ino would probably be sad to see the outfit she picked out ripped. Eh.
Once she drinks water she will begin west again and stop at the first village for supplies.
Soon the River is in sight and Sakura begins to walk faster until she senses other chakras. In which are not animals, but humans with more chakra than civilians. But in Sakura's tired state she failed to notice the two nin quickly enough. Snapping their heads back, two men ogle at her. The man on the left has middle length brown hair that is down in a loose braid, his deep purple eyes are the only thing on his face seen as the rest of his face is covered by a black face covering. He is perched on a mossy rock just off the river and he is clothed in traditional garments.
The other man on the right stood tall with a sword by his hip, spiky red hair cascades down his back. His face is adorned with a strong nose and burning wide-set hazel eyes. He is also in traditional garments, but with loud purple coloring.
"I am also a ninja, but I do not come here to fight. I’m just getting some water." Sakura states in a commanding tone. "The hell? A little girl.. as a ninja? You look like a girl from a cat house with such revealing clothes." The red head man spits. His ogling from prior over, replaced with resentment. "You must be looking for something with such flashy attire 'ninja'." The dark haired man chimes in while climbing down the rock.
They both stand next to each other now, the red head's sword still at his hip. What the hell is with this old man's garbage?
"If you really are looking for hostility then I'll give it to you. SEXIST ASSHOLES."