Warped

Afternoon

     Sakura slouched on her couch and started to count the things that she did that actually amused her. Befriending Hitoshi was one and scaring the daylights out of one timid male was another. It felt pleasing to not know everything for once and actually make "her own" decisions. The part where they would effect nothing didn't bother her in the slightest.

     Actually, she found that she had a sour taste in her mouth whenever she thought about the young boy. Sakura couldn't help but compare the docile child to her own teammate, Naruto Uzumaki. The blonde always had that unwavering air of determination around him yet Izuku felt meek and small. To think as though the boy would end up as a high ranked hero seemed to scuff Naruto's infamous dreams. However, the different environments and experiences also had a hand in it.

     At least it didn't take Naruto forever to come up with his own jutsus, the first one on the list being the Sexy no jutsu itself.

     Still, she wasn't supposed to interfere.

     Looking up, she saw that her manager had left and retired for the day. Grinning, she opened up the back door of her condo to the nice wooded area behind her home.

     She specifically wanted trees that were taller than most and could support human weight. Soon enough, she'd be able to recreate the training ground that her team was formed on. 

     Changing from school clothes to her own shinobi attire that she patched up, Sakura jumped up onto a sturdy branch. Even if she was trapped by fate, she would never dare forget where she came from.

     For those rare moments, she felt as though she was back in Konoha, free to choose as she pleased. A spark of exhilaration and joy would race up her spine and cause shivers as she reached the terminal of the forest. However, it easily dissipated when she wasn't met with the familiar site of the Hokage Mountains. 

     It was odd to want to go back to her unsettling cage but Sakura did grow attached to the people her fate was intertwined with.  That included her parents that would eventually die from the travesty known as war and friends that wouldn't cut it as kunoichis.

     She yearned wistfully for her child-like innocence before she gained the cruel power to foresee the inevitable future. However, there was no way to undo her curse because of how deeply interwoven it was with everything else.

     Gazing out into a more urban area, she bit her lip. Sakura only lived in a condo after all, meaning that her neighbors would want to approve of any developments she decided to take. It was only a matter of time before the pinkette's career lifted off she she could pay them off to leave. As of now, she didn't have nor received sufficient funds to make such a hefty move like that.

     Her phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket and she turned on the screen to see that it was from the Director of Operation's secretary. Both she and Sakura got along fine and once indulged in some Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. 

     "This is Sakura Haruno."

      "The high-ups want a status report on how school went for you. Supposedly they're going to try to figure out your future popularity rise."

     "I made one friend... And no one else spoke to me."

     "Because you skipped a week?"

     "Mmn."

     Sakura could already see the poor secretary's expression of irritation by hearing the heavy sigh through the phone. "I told them, but they wouldn't listen."

     "Sadly, that's their negative quality."

      "Look, I know we've made your situation worse but try to be more sociable with kids your age."

     "But I have one friend."

     "You know that the CEO isn't going to like "just one friend" to hold you back from your job."

     "Yes, yes. Society is all enslaved to capitalism, and we are just the underdogs in the whole caste. Can you try to persuade him to lay off of me though? I got a call in school... And even more missed calls. My reputation can't fall any lower than it already has."

     "I'll mention it. Stay healthy and get good results. Don't forget to exaggerate a test and studying so you won't have to work as much."

     "Will do, " she replied and smiled at the relationship between them, "I'll talk to you when someone bugs you again."

      "Yeah... Good bye."

      The phone line went dead and she slipped the electronic back into her pocket. The sun had begun to set beyond the horizon and the skyline melted into a pretty gradient of warm colors. It was about time she headed back anyways.

     Slipping through the trees, she made it home and went through the sliding glass doors in the back. Sakura left it unlock but left a series of traps in case someone decided that they wanted to trifle through her things.

     Inside of covet of what she considered to be a humble home was only two bedrooms, one full bath, a family room, kitchen, and basement. In the lower levels was where Sakura meditated and stored books of knowledge that had been yet to be attained in Konohagakure. 

      Their own studies of diseases and illnesses that didn't exist in her previous world fascinated her but also gave her a bit to add onto her own practice of chakra. With new information, she could formulate jutsus that haven't even been imagined before. The possibilities felt endless, even more so for the fact that Sakura no longer knew everything in the world.

     Another topic also peaked a bit of interest in her: psychology. The study of the human and how it worked applied a lot to the Torture and Interrogation department, something that also gave her a glint in the eye. It was nasty stuff but necessary at times and usually the easiest, especially since she could hurt and heal on repeat.

     In all the books on the reactions of humans, she found herself rereading the same line: Memories that are too traumatic and stressful on the brain are locked away to protect themselves. Each time she saw it, she couldn't help but scoff.