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The sun was warm in Tsunade’s office. Everything looked familiar, felt familiar, smelled familiar. It was comfortable…and deceptive. It kept playing tricks on Sakura’s mind. It felt like nothing had changed.  But Sakura new, standing in this office, she had to confront the truth she’d avoiding for days. Everything was different for her. Despite her […]

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From Chapter 50:  “Sakura of the Leaf,” Chiyo rasped. Sakura leaned in to listen, wondering if, at the end, Chiyo had some message to pass on. Sakura was not so heartless as to deny an old woman her last wish— Chiyo’s eyes locked on hers. Her hand gripped her forearm, clawing around it in the […]

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Chapter 50 – The Puppet Sakura blinked into the darkness.  She took a few steps forward, hands grasping air in front of her, feet shuffling— But a stone caught her toe and she stumbled onto one knee. She leaned forward and felt out the rocks around her, seeing it in her mind’s the same way she […]

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Sakura heard muffled voices in the darkness. For a moment, she was completely disoriented. She shook her head and realized she was on the ground. There was a dim light from beyond the edge of the cavern wall, and Sakura remembered the cave…the explosion….  “That was a little much, don’t you think, old woman?”  She […]

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Team 7 flashback continued: They worked through the year, but they still were not a team. The chunin exams were approaching, and Kakashi warned them if they didn’t figure it out they wouldn’t make it through the exam. They would most certainly be killed. But even his most stern warning didn’t get through.  And after […]

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Excerpt of Chapter 47 — The Odd Ones: Sakura’s chakra came easily. It always had. But that was the problem. She thought everyone could just open their eyes and there it was, glowing and ready, without any effort. She knew now they didn’t. At academy, she learned it worked differently for everyone else. Chakra didn’t […]

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Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi left out of Konoha under the cover of dark, before dawn cracked the first light over the sleeping village. Kakashi explained briefly that he had a lead on something, something big. Top secret. And that they needed to go. Time was of the essence. They trusted Kakashi so they went. No […]

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Two Worlds, Part 4 – Those Left Behind Well after dark, after she’d run her errands, showered and changed back into her shinobi clothes, Sakura scaled a building wall, hopped over the spine of the roof and down into a secluded balcony. Several nins were already there, leaning out and watching the parade one story […]

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Sakura quickly changed out of her shinobi clothes and into a civilian skirt and side-zipped vest, then left for her childhood home. She may have looked like she was a civilian but she was more alert than ever to being noticed. She watched for Sasuke down the dark lanes of the shinobi district. She didn’t […]

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Sakura left the streets of Konoha behind and set off for the for the woods outside the walls of the village. This errand for Tsunade was different. The instructions were scant, and the destination was at best dangerous. At worst…well…. She didn’t want to think about that…. She was going into the Forest of Death, […]

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