“It doesn’t matter if you did or didn’t. Once you eat a devil fruit you can’t swim anymore, and I don’t want to go diving into the ocean this time of night. So go back to bed now,”
Zoro turned his back, certain that the girl was going to just return without further argument. However, that assumption went through the window and into the sea along with her. It was quiet for a second before he heard the splash and he didn't know how he hadn't noticed her trying again even with his back turned.
“Dumbass!”
Ten times worse than sleep paralysis. Where you're coherent enough that you can feel the pain in your chest from the air being pressed out of your lungs and experience the fear sinking its claws into you as you were dragged deeper into the depths. That was Sakura's experience when she fell into the sea. As if she had become boneless, her muscles and limbs lost to her, unable to process the demands her brain made and she felt like slipping into a slumber with no chance of peace.
She couldn’t even remember to realize that this meant she did eat a devil fruit.
Sakura didn't even feel when she was pulled up to the surface. When her vision cleared, there was no longer darkness around her, she was back on the ship, Zoro peering over her soaked, small drops from his hair falling onto her face which she found uncomfortable, and sat as quickly as her weakened form would allow.
Drawing in a breath, Sakura almost didn’t want to exhale.
“That enough proof for you? Don’t know how you were convinced you didn’t eat a devil fruit when you’re able to pull that healing off,”
It was. Now there was no doubt that this world and her own, had been connected by Kaguya and that she had intended to take something belonging here. If Sakura wanted any chance to figure out a way home, she would have to start with this as her only clue.
Like trying to pave a path with only a handful of pebbles. This solidified the hopelessness of her situation, and perhaps she had expressed that in her face without realizing it.
Zoro stood up, “I’m gonna draw the water, you can take a shower after that. Sit in the kitchen and try not to flood the place,”
"Huh?" Sakura hadn't been paying attention and forgot that she wasn't alone. He had his back turned and was already heading for the room with the machine to draw in the warm water.
“Don’t try to drown yourself while I’m gone,”
“So I should wait for you to get back?” Sakura countered.
'Accidentally Rock Lee'd a retired racehorse' is the line that inspired me to draw this XD quote is from this tumblr post https://www.tumblr.com/teshadraws/795814083462037505?source=share (It's actually a really interesting short read)
Honestly Rock Lee and Might Guy were my favourite characters from the Naruto series, so this was really fun thing to quickly draw up, also Rock Lee as a Mudbray I think really works for his character or at least the design worked out well for this. I wonder if Might Guy as a Mudsdale would work too?
You told me this was one of your favorite stories.
As a writer, I have no words to express my gratitude enough.
I hope a picture is at least worth 1000 words
The world came to her in fragments, like shards of a broken mirror reflecting a distorted reality. Her vision swam, blurred at the edges as if she were peering through a fogged window. The kind of awakening that follows a restless sleep—a sleep that offers no dreams, no nightmares, only the heavy promise of a day that would attempt to grind her spirits to dust. She blinked, her eyelids scraping like dry parchment, and took in her surroundings.
The air was damp, carrying the faint metallic tang of stone and earth. The light was dim, sourceless, as though it seeped from the walls themselves. She was underground, or so it seemed. The walls carved in rock. Her body felt leaden, weighed down by invisible chains. She glanced down and saw the restraints—thick, leather straps that bound her up to her arms, holding them tightly behind her back. Yet, it wasn't the leather that held her immobile; it was as if gravity itself had doubled, pressing down on her.
To a kunoichi, Sakura Haruno knew this was far from an ideal situation, an ordinary person would've been induced to panic, but her instinct was to take in her surroundings, collect every image and observation, and make a calculated decision before her nerves and emotions caught up to her and netted around her shinobi instincts, trapping them.
And then she saw him.
“Well look who’s finally awake,”
A man sat a few feet away, his posture relaxed, almost languid as if he were waiting for a tea kettle to boil rather than guarding a captive. His face was shadowed by the brim of a striped bucket hat, but his eyes—gray and sharp as flint—caught the faint light. His hair was a mess of pale gold, strands falling carelessly across his forehead, and a faint stubble dusted his jaw. In one hand, he held a cane, its tip resting lightly against the ground. In the other, a fan, which he flicked open with a practiced snap, hiding the lower half of his face.
“I was starting to think you’d never wake up after that. Glad to see you weren’t done in,”
Her eyes narrowed, as she tugged at the restraints, but her body refused to obey, as though her muscles had forgotten their purpose. “Who are you?” she demanded, her voice hoarse but steady.
The man tilted his head, the brim of his hat casting his eyes into deeper shadow. “That’s what I want to ask you,” he replied, tapping the tip of his cane against the ground.
“Sakura Haruno,” she said without hesitation, “Now, tell me where I am.”
He chuckled, a low, mirthless sound that echoed faintly in the cavernous space. "Sakura Haruno," he repeated as if testing the weight of her name. "Tell me, do you remember what happened to you?"
Her brow furrowed as she tried to piece together the fragments of her memory. A mission—yes, there had been a mission. And then… flashes of chaos. Bodies were strewn across the ground like discarded dolls. A creature, monstrous and otherworldly, its mask is a grotesque fusion of bone and shadow. And pain—searing, blinding pain as something tore through her chest. Her eyes instinctively flew to her torso, searching for the wound, but there was nothing. No blood, no scar, not even a tear in her clothing….which had been changed. She was no longer wearing her usual red vest her entire outfit seemed to have been displaced.
That sent a shiver of discomfort through her, as she noticed the black fabric covering her body, a black kimono. Clasping neatly to her body in perfect size, but that was the least of her concerns.
“I’m alive?” she whispered, more to herself than to him.
The man’s fan snapped shut, and he leaned forward, his gray eyes glinting like shards of ice. “Oh no,” he said, his tone almost playful. “You’re not alive.”
“What? What the hell are you talking about?” She was here right now, she could feel her breaths, her chest rising with each intake, the pain in her shoulders from being bound as she was.
He shrugged as if discussing the weather. "I suppose it's more accurate to say that you, Sakura Haruno, are neither dead nor alive. You're somewhere in between. A liminal space, if you will."
This may have been nothing more than a disturbing joke, but it set her off. She tugged at the restraints again, but they held fast, “Explain. Now.”
The man snapped his fingers, and the restraints fell away, disintegrating into wisps of smoke. Sakura surged to her feet, her body moving on instinct, falling into a defensive stance.
“What is this?” she demanded, her voice rising. “What’s going on?”
The man rose smoothly to his feet, his cane tapping lightly against the stone floor. He reached behind him and produced a sheathed sword, which he tossed at her feet. The blade landed with a metallic clang that echoed through the chamber. “Do you really want to know?”
Sakura stared at the sword, a sinking feeling settling in her gut. Whatever this was, it was bad. Worse than bad. She could feel it in the air, in the way the shadows seemed to pulse and writhe around her.
"Think back," the man said, his voice cutting through her thoughts like a knife. "Way back. What brought you to this moment? And don't hold back.
Read The Rest of The Chapters here:
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Kunoichi amongst Heroes:
Everything in life has a price that must be paid, but it cost Sakura Haruno her entire world. Now having no one to rely on but herself, Sakura must face this new world dominated with heroes, villains, and quirks. She also discovers that what she's paid for, has the potential to be worthwhile.
Sakura Haruno ends up in My hero Academia world thanks to Kaguya, and she's going to reign hell!
