⏪ Back in Time! (HELP!) [Sakura Timetravel AU]

19: Respite (Sasusaku)

(July 20, 2024) Wow I am finally back to rewriting this story after 18928)289 years

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"Earth scroll....earth scroll..."

Sakura muttered under her breath as she tossed a rock around in her hands. Team 7 was taking shelter in a small secluded space within the Forest of Death. The most 'inconspicuous place' as he said it. Hopefully inconspicuous enough to camouflage this team's vibrant color choice of wardrobe with red, blue, and yellow. Are we coincidentally the primary colors...?

Sakura looked over to her right where Naruto was taking a quick nap, turned over to the side, and scratched his belly like he wasn't even in constant threat of death. A bubble of air rose in Naruto's left nostril and popped as he let out a soft snore. Sakura didn't mind his noise level, though, as the wind blew through the trees louder.

On her left, Sasuke was quietly sharpening his weapon and restocking his gear. There was a slight tightness to his lips that told her he was probably thinking the same thing she was. Already one day into the second part of the exam, but they've got no leads on anyone with an Earth Scroll. The runt they dealt with earlier had nothing except a couple of weird gadgets, so they tied him up and left him for the wolves.

Absentmindedly, Sakura set down her stone and lifted her hand to feel her forehead, brushing her bangs back slightly. Her expression grew more intense when she brushed her finger across the middle. To her, it felt normal like usual, but there was an unusually colder temperature around the area where the texture of one spot felt off.

It was the seal, of course. There was no denying it now. Even if she hadn't looked in a mirror for a good while, she knew what this power was like the back of her hand. Its awakening was strange, disadvantageous in fact. The god damned seal that could have shown up sometime later when she reasonably crept up in power level to lower suspicions from her peers, but as the world was against her the diamond cursed her before she even became a Chūnin! Sakura stopped herself from touching it again and adjusted her headband again before fixing her bangs for extra protection. She knew that this puny little headband was about equal to a shoddy translucent filter. A ninja with visual technique prowess could easily see through her in this state.

"A little bit of protection is better than none..." She murmured. Given that she felt an unsettling disconnection with the seal even as it appeared on her very own head, she wondered if her young body was having an adverse reaction to it. Something in the back of her mind told her that it might cause her some problems in the future. Was it a win or loss? Well, at the very least it would give her a power boost and she would feel less tired all the time.

"Hey." Out of nowhere, she felt a warm sensation on her arm and swiftly veered her head to the side just in time to see Sasuke pulling his arm back.

Sakura feels her body cool down after registering that there isn't any imminent danger lurking around, "What is it?" Sasuke looks forward and stuffs his weapon back into his holster.

"Most of the teams probably have come into contact with at least one other group, meaning that one team may very well be going to the center tomorrow. I want us to at least get a lead on the scroll we need tomorrow." As she listened, her attention shifted over to her other side when Naruto tossed on his side, bumping into her. She slightly shakes her head at his sleeping habit and fiddles with his blond spiky hair.

"You better not be secretly going on reconnaissance tonight. We need to rest up a bit more before we actively go searching for the other teams. Who knows what kind of traps they've already laid in this labyrinth of a forest?" Sakura shifts onto her knees and leans over Naruto, poking his nose.