Twiceborn: Second Bloom | Alternate

Chapter One: A Shift in the Autumn Leaves

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.