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1st Punch

[Action: Where the rivers meet in the village]

[Sakura's arrival in Luceti comes with a short, bitten-off yell of surprise and a splash as she drops into the icy water. The white-clad figure vanishes underwater, then reappears, struggling, fighting to surface long enough to catch her breath. It's shockingly cold, iced over in places -- although thankfully not where she fell -- and even if she knows nothing else yet, she knows she must get out of the water.]

[Flailing, gasping, reeling in shock from the sudden cold, it's extremely difficult for her to get atop the water as a ninja would normally go -- but she's too cold to swim properly, she knows that all too well, and with the ice besides, she has no other choice.]

[She's proud of her own strength and control, and she makes herself display it now, pushing up out of the water and working her way until she is balanced by chakra on the surface.]

[Now, though, she's exposed to the bitter air, soaking wet, with nothing but a thin, backless white dress to cover her. And she's freezing.]

[She makes her way toward the shore, where there's a journal waiting for her. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a warm blanket or anything like one. Just the journal, with her name on it, and a biting chill to the air.]

[Video]

[Sakura's hair is is still damp when her face appears on the journals. She's managed to get dry and warmed up -- and much more warmly dressed than when she arrived -- but she looks disoriented, worried, and worn.]

I don't know what this place is, where it is, why it is. I'm not sure I even want to speculate. But if there's anyone... familiar out there, anyone who knows me -- I'm here.

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[Ino's faith is justified; instead of immediately exploding into questions, Sakura's eyes narrow as she thinks over all of that.]

So I won't be missed from the battle, then. [Which is a vaguely mind-bending concept, to be honest; her gut is conjuring up all kinds of images of what they're doing without her, people dying because she's not there to heal and protect them.]

And some of the people here from home won't know what's going on.

Like me, for example, I don't know what's going on.

[It was an immediate retort and it sounded as if she was more irritated than informative. It already dawned on her that most of the people from home who are here are from the future which annoys her more than it should.]

I assume that battle you're talking about is the war Shikamaru mentioned, right?

[Ino doesn't know?! She stops herself from blurting out the question, but her eyes widen. Ino's from the past, before the war... before the strike that took out the army's HQ, and Inoichi with it.]

[Her mind swims for a moment, and then she makes a decision. I won't tell her. If Ino doesn't know, there is no point in giving her a harsh future to dread.]

The Fourth War... yes. I'm - I was, rather - in the middle of it.

[She crosses her arms before her chest, the blankets along with it.]

So, you're probably from around Shikamaru's time or something. All I remember before getting here was that we're in the middle of village repairs after that Akatsuki attack.

[An indignant huff. No surprise there since Sakura lived through it, though for how long, she doesn't know. Ino doesn't really want to know further details about the future than what she already knows from Shikamaru. It's already bad knowing there's a war coming, something she doesn't even want to live through just yet.]

I know Hinata's from around that time too when she was still here, if I'm not mistaken. I'm not too sure about Neji and the others, though.

[Woops, did she just mention a dead guy?]

The Akatsuki attack? That was... a while ago.

[She frowns, thinking that over -- and then when Ino mentions Neji, looks up, forcing herself to hide her sudden unease. Hiding Inoichi's death from Ino is one thing, but looking into the eyes of someone she watched die -- that's something else. Especially with the recent end of the Edo Tensei jutsu, it's an experience she truly does not wish to repeat -- made all the worse by the fact that this isn't a jutsu, this is someone still living who has no business doing so.]

[Still, she's trying to hide her reaction. So she'll keep talking.]

The others? You mentioned the two Hyuuga, you, me, Shikamaru...?

[Sorry, Sakura, she'll be giving you all the feels soon. Hoho. Good for you that you're a good actress because Ino doesn't suspect anything. Or if she ever did, she has a good way of hiding it.]

Hinata already left like a month ago. A month before that, Naruto did. From Konoha, it's only me, Shikamaru, Neji, Tenten, Lee and Kiba. But there was a point in time when everyone was here. Kiba had his teammates. We had Chouji. You and Naruto were both here.

[She pauses, mulling this over. So many people had already come and gone. Some who aren't even supposed to be here.] Temari's also here from Suna. [Another pause, this time longer than the last.] And... others from our home.

Edited 2013-01-11 16:18 (UTC)

[Wait, that's not adding up.]

But I haven't been here before... I've never been in this village before!

[She'd think she'd remember getting a pair of bloody great wingsstuck on her back if nothing else. She hasn't even asked about them yet -- people are more important, and she doesn't really want to acknowledge the modification to her body just yet.]

[And on that tangent it's easier not to think about coming face-to-face with ghosts.]

And... there is a way to get home?

It does that. It happened to Hinata once.

[You know, leaving and then coming back with no memories of this place. At her next question, though, Ino frowns.]

As for a way to get home, do you think we're still going to be here if there is? [Not meant to sound like she's scolding Sakura, though, as she continues--] People leave on random. No one knows when someone leaves.

[She remembers Naruto's promise of not leaving as long as everyone's leaving with him too. Look how that went for him. He even left his girlfriend behind. :( Good thing she's not here anymore to wait in vain.]

But people are still looking for one, including us.

It's better than having no hope at all! [The words are perhaps a little sharp, but this is an awful lot to deal with.]

If there is a way, even if we don't know how it works, then we can figure out a way to manipulate it. There has to be. [After all, they come from a world where pretty much any natural event, no matter how powerful, can be manipulated.]

[She snorts as she shakes her head in amusement. Same old Sakura.]

You can talk strategies with Shikamaru, if you want, right after he gets released from the clinic.

[Because inasmuch as she understands where Sakura's coming from, talking about serious stuff like this right off the bat upon greeting her re-arrival is giving her a mild headache.]

Clinic? What happened to him?

[Which is really a bigger question than that. What are the dangers of this place?]

[Ino's expression changed visibly at her question. She should have expected Sakura would ask that but it didn't prepare her on the memories she had on that fateful day.]

Hidan was here previously. Shikamaru had a fight against him. [She visibly cringes a little as if the mere memory of seeing Shikamaru bleeding from his gut stung her physically.]

He was severely injured after he defeated Hidan, three deep stomach cuts from that bastard's scythe. I... had to patch him up to stop the bleeding. It was- [She pauses, looking up with a tighter expression.] I can't even explain how terrible it was.

[There are still so many things she wished she could have done right at that very moment. If only she didn't run out of chakra.]

[Oh. Oh hell. That's...]

[It's hard to find words for something like that -- and the entire possibility that some of their very dangerous hostiles from home would show up here too, and that it's that one, and Shikamaru dealing with him, and...]

Ino...

[Rivals, hell. This is her best friend, and she just reaches out, wraps an arm around her shoulders, because sometimes you need connection.]

You did it, though.

[The moment Sakura's arms connected and wrapped themselves around her, Ino felt her body stiffening and then just letting go. Riku offered comfort that day after Shikamaru was settled in the clinic but of course, Sakura's is still different.]

I didn't do everything and I wish I did. [Her voice is soft as she remembers their past ordeal.]

The wounds were very deep... and messy. With the limit this place puts on us, I ran out of chakra. I managed to stop the bleeding, though, patch up torn organs, long enough for Neji and I to bring him to the clinic.

[Another long pause.] Shikamaru was also smart enough to bandage himself up before the fight so the bleeding wasn't that profuse than I expected. But still...

[It hurts her pride that she wasn't able to fully heal him and the fear that she might be too late again scares her so much.]

I thought... [I thought I'd lose him.]

Edited 2013-01-14 14:50 (UTC)

There's only so much you can do with limited chakra.

[Doesn't she know it. She wants to ask about that phrase -- the limits this place puts on us -- but this isn't the time, not yet. Later.]

You kept him alive and got him into treatment. That's the important part. And he was prepared... [It's Shikamaru. Foresight is his specialty. Plotting out all the potentials...]

You know as well as I do -- if your patient survives in good shape, then you succeeded. Might-have-beens are only useful if they let you plan better for the future.

[The lesson Tsunade drummed into her head back at home, for all it's dreadfully hard to hold onto when you're treating someone you care about.]

[She sighs, washing away all doubt and fear she's feeling. Sakura's right and the reminder she gave her assures her. The words are easier said than done, though, and she knows this too well. But hearing them gives some sort of comfort.]

That's right. I need to always remember that. [A snort.] Hard to do so when you're in that situation, though.

[The drawback of being a medic - seeing people close to you suffer. Ino shakes her head at the thought, though.] --Anyway, enough depressing stuff. Want a little tour of this place?

[They both know it all too well, that pain -- Sakura even better than Ino now, with the war weighing on her shoulders. But she says nothing of it, just smiles.]

That sounds about right! Now that I'm warm and dry, I may even enjoy it.

Good to hear. [A wider smile, this time.] This place might be a huge pain sometimes but it's not all that bad. You'll see. [She got a gentleman as a boyfriend here, for starters.]

[Yeah she does! Sakura's going to be so jealous when she finds out.]

Tell me about it, as we go? What is it, anyway?

Well, for one, I have a boyfriend here.

[She lets that sink in for now because that's already very good news!]

A boyfriend, really?

[She can't help laughing; kidnapped far from home, dropped here in the middle of nowhere, and Ino got a boyfriend out of the deal?]

Well, tell me about him?

[Well, one can't exactly help falling in love. They found love in a hopeless place, okay.]

His name's Riku. Handsome with short silver hair and a gorgeous bod. And he's not all looks too because he's the sweetest gentleman I know.

[Such a proud gurlfran, this one.]

[Riku... short silver hair... gentleman...

Sakura can't help it, she just dissolves into giggles.]

Oh! I think I've already met him... he's your boyfriend! Lucky pig, you!

Oh, you already have? That's great. [She giggles, too.] I don't have to introduce him to you, then, and--

--What did you call me?

1st Punch

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