Time Travel for Dummies

Part 3

Everything felt fuzzy. Someone...was speaking?

"Are you sure this will work?"

"Probably."

"Probably?!"

That's Naruto. Naruto, and...Orochimaru?

"Naruto."

Sakura found herself glaring up at him from where she lay on the ground. "We've already been over this."

Why was she...?

"Still—"

"We're running out of options," Sasuke interrupted.

Sasuke-chan?

"Naruto."

Ah. That's sensei. So the gang's all here...but where is "here"?

"Kaka-sensei...?"

"None of us wants to do this, but we don't have a choice. Orochimaru?"

"It's ready."

What...what's ready?

"Alright. Sakura?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Ready for what? I don't—I don't like this...

Kakashi spent a moment staring at Sakura; She wondered what he saw. "Yosh. Do it."

Wait—!

Orochimaru plunged the syringe into Sakura's spine.

---

She woke up screaming.

---

Hmm...maybe I should cut my hair...

She'd woken up that morning with her hair tangled around her and plastered to her skin with cold sweat, and all she could think about was how they'd resorted to shaving their heads at the end of it all to prevent their enemies from gaining any sort of advantage.

No...that'd be too much of a change, wouldn't it? Better to just stick with tying it up. Maybe I should put it in a hat or something when I sleep...

As she got up to get a hair tie, she noticed how the wood of her bed was warped inward. Her chakra spiked, and it was back to normal.

---

Naruto dug around in his closet. These couldn't be the only clothes he owned...he specifically remembers he didn't even get the damn jumpsuit until his final year at the Academy.

So, there's gotta be something...aha!

A sleeveless orange hoodie is better than nothing, and this scarf should still fit...just in case he gets cold again, y'know.

So long as he wears the hoodie though, he shouldn't need it. Now, if he could just find some easier-to-move-in pants...

---

Sasuke paused as he passed a mirror.

Did...did his hair always look this stupid?

There was a flash of purple, before his eyes were back to normal.

He shifted his hair absentmindedly so his left eye was covered.

Better safe than sorry.

---

Hm...

Naruto finally found a pair of better fitting pants, but they had no pockets—probably why he stopped wearing them in the first place.

No worries.

A few years into the war they'd taken shelter in the ruins of Uzushiogakure, and there he'd found dozens of surprisingly well-preserved scrolls on fuuinjutsu.

Even Sasuke had been impressed with how fast he'd flown through them.

Sealing just came naturally for him, it seemed.

Luckily, storage seals were the easiest to perfect, and took practically no time at all to scribe.

Now, all he needed was some ink, a needle, and...

---

Kakashi's students were acting even weirder today. Sakura wasn't that bad, but Naruto...

Well, at least he was wearing more than a mesh top today—for a second Kakashi thought he was going to take after Anko, and was afraid that that was somehow his fault.

Not that a sleeveless hoodie and several new tattoos were much better. Kakashi was starting to think this was less the past, and more an alternative universe. Either way, he was going to try his best to do better this time.

Oh, and then there was Sasuke who had apparently decided he wanted to be even more emo now, as evidenced by his new side bangs covering one eye. (Ironically, it was the same eye he covered in the future when he was trying to be subtle about having a Rinnegan. Weird coincidence, huh...)

Ah, well. Alternate Universe or not, he was still going to do his best.

Starting with not being late.

---

"What the fuck—"

Kakashi really didn't think this deserved such an extreme reaction, especially considering they shouldn't know about his—ahem, "bad habit" yet...

Smiling, Kakashi pulled out two bells.

"Now, let me explain the rules of the Bell Test..."