Chapter Notes

Author’s note: It’s a mix of spoiler and regular notes, so just one big long thread of story notes: • A single look between Tsunade and Kakashi. She flashed her amber eyes at him, and he cleared his throat softly in acknowledgement. And that was all it took to change Sakura’s fate. — The idea is […]

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This chapter is about vessels, who puts things into them and who controls them. And it’s about making choices in the face of uncertainty. The whole lid has been ripped off of what Sakura thinks she knows…about healing, about her own abilities and about the people she’s trusted most. It’s also a chapter about power, […]

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Chapter notes • “The Puppet” at first refers to Sakura being Chiyo’s puppet, then flipping it to be her own body as the puppet, and then Chiyo. The puppet ends up operating the puppet master by the end. Chiyo and Sasori have ideas about control — through puppets — and Sakura turns that on its head […]

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Chapter Themes • “Master and Student” — So, on the surface, ‘Master and Student’ refers to the version of Chiyo and Sakura from the manga, where she’s a powerful-but-nutty old woman who imparts her knowledge to Sakura. In the middle of the chapter, the meaning twists to represent Chiyo and Sasori, and that she withheld knowledge […]

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Chapter Notes: For a chapter called “We Move as One,” it has an underlying theme of secrets. They become more united as a team, but the reality is they each still have a lot of secrets that can come between them. And for Sakura, life-changing moments have happened when she’s separated from her team…. So […]

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“The Odd Ones” is a play on the statement that “Kakashi had a nose for those odd ones” from the beginning of the manga (from the first chapter, I think). But, which ones are odd? Are all of them? Some of them? Kakashi’s pretty odd too, lol. So it fits. And Sakura’s perception of them […]

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  Chapter notes: This chapter and the next, although flashback heavy, really dive deep into Sakura’s story. It answers questions about her background that are never addressed in the original. How was her chakra discovered? Were her parents happy about it? Was she happy about it? “How did she go from civilian kid to being accepted […]

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Chapter Notes: • There, carved in wood, outlined in faded paint, and completely covered by the Hyuuga banner, was an Uchiha fan. It was unmistakeable. — The reality is, after the Uchiha were killed, the other clans would have swooped in to take apart the remains. It is only because Sasuke is so powerful that […]

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Author’s notes: Again, the theme of ‘two worlds’ is continuing to build. This time with Sakura balancing her civilian life with her shinobi one. You can understand Sakura better when you know where she’s come from, and sadly that was missing from the manga. This is my take on her backstory! Chapter notes: • Sakura’s building […]

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Author’s Note: I hope everyone is doing okay and staying safe. These are stressful, scary times, and I wanted to write an escape hatch. What better place to go than an ancient forest? I hope it takes you away for a while. Be kind to yourself during all this. You are enough. I’ll be posting […]

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