Time Braid

2. Looping

Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto.

“We’ve got the rest of the day free, Sasuke. Let’s go on a date!”

“No.” He slouched away.

“Sasuke, if you’ll go on a date with me I’ll give you my first kiss.”

“Not interested.”

“Hey Sasuke, want to do some training together?”

“You’d only get in my way.”

“Oh, Sasuke-kun, check out my new jutsu. Sexy Technique!”

He stared. I ran my hands up and down my new curves and posed. “Want to help me take this body for a test drive?”

“You shouldn’t play with yourself in public, crazy girl.”

“Damn it, Sasuke, what would it take to convince you to go out with me?”

“A lobotomy.”

Apparently I’d traded one impossible task for another. I had no clue how to stop something as huge as an invasion, so I’d decided to try a different problem instead. If I could solve the Forest of Death like a puzzle, surely I could find a way to get Sasuke to go out with me. Only nothing worked. No matter what angle I tried, no matter how I asked or pleaded or teased or posed or begged, he wouldn’t have anything to do with me. After three weeks of steady rejection I was starting to get depressed again.

The memory of Naruto asking me out every single day for nearly two years didn’t help. How did he do it?

Just to cheer myself up, I actually said yes the next time Naruto asked. He was completely clueless about what to do on a date, but sitting around watching him smile at me and pig out on ramen was better than another rejection.

Lee was a slightly better date, but way too weird for my taste. Kiba was kind of hot, but he always tried to feel me up. Shikimaru and Neji weren’t interested, and even in a time loop I wasn’t going to give Shino or Choji a try. So those were my options, unless I wanted to chase older men or give girls a try.

“I just don’t get it.” I complained to Ino one night. “No matter what I do he just blows me off. Is he gay?”

“Maybe he wants a woman who’s a little more womanly.” She shot back cattily.

I snorted, and did the Sexy Technique. “He turned me down when I was like this, Ino. If my boobs were any bigger they’d mistake me for a Hyuuga.”

She giggled. “I think you might have Hinata beat. Damn, that’s some illusion. Can I touch?”

“Sure.” I shrugged as she ran her hand through my waist-length hair. “But it’s not an illusion, it’s a real transformation. Hey, maybe we should try it together. No guy can resist two girls at once.”

Yeah, that was my ‘Sexy’ form’s influence, and I had a serious ‘oh, shit, did I just say that out loud?’ moment. But Ino’s incredulous stare slowly melted into that mischievous grin of hers. “Teach me this technique, and you’re on.”

I woke in a strange bed, with a soft female body cuddled against my left side and an unexpected emptiness to my right. Ino had reverted to her usual self at some point during the night, but somehow I was still in ‘Sexy’ form. How did that happen?

I held my childhood friend close, remembering the previous night. She’d been amazing. Playful and passionate, eager to please and ready to try anything. Just like me. She was a little more restrained after her transformation ran out, but that might have just been exhaustion.

Sasuke was a big disappointment. He lasted maybe two minutes the first time and five the second. Worse than that, it was obvious he didn’t much care if we were having fun.

My thoughts were interrupted when Sasuke stepped into the room and yanked the covers off the bed. “Get up, Sakura. You’re not going to make me miss this test.”

Some boyfriend he was.

Needless to say, I completely freaked when the next reset changed me back to normal.

“I slept with a girl!”

Yes, and you liked it. The little voice in my head seemed to say.

“But I like guys! I’m not a lesbian!”

Yeah, boys a great. But so are girls. Remember how good it felt to wake up in Ino’s arms?

“Oh god, I really am crazy. I never thought about Ino like that.”

Please. You had a cute little girl-crush on her for years before you noticed Sasuke.

“I’m crazy, and my other personality is a pervert.”

No, I just don’t have all your hang-ups. Come on, you know you liked it.

“…maybe. But I’m not going to turn into some tramp who hops into bed with anything that moves.”

Of course not, dummy. I wouldn’t do that any more than you would. I’m just not afraid to let my best friend know that I love her.

“Well, I guess that’s some relief. Wait, what about Sasuke?”

He’s a whiny little emo-boy. But he’s hot, and you and Ino both wanted him, so I figured what the heck. Besides, I bet you won’t make that mistake again.

“Great. Not only am I having an argument with myself, I’m losing.”

I didn’t repeat that pattern, but it wasn’t hard to find one where Ino and I renewed our friendship. All I had to do was tell her I was sick of chasing a boy who obviously didn’t want me, and wish her luck with him. It hurt more than I expected to admit that, but it was worth it to have my best friend back. There were several ways to get both our teams disqualified on the first day of the survival test, and that left us six days together before the loop reset.

But rebuilding our friendship repeatedly got old quick, and beating her in the preliminary round was a sure way to derail it again. Since she was the only one I was ever matched with who I could actually beat, that meant I couldn’t go into the month of training with my friend back. Which sucked.

“Well girl, the answer to that one’s obvious. Time to get back to training.”

It took three deaths, a couple of crippling injuries and another valiant last stand from Naruto to get into the final round again. I knew I’d lost the physical conditioning from my last training month in the resets, but I hadn’t realized how much it had thrown off my reflexes. But a few days of practice got me back up to speed, and then it was just a matter of luck.

“Poor Naruto. I’ve got to remember to do something nice for him once I get out of this.”

Let me out, and I’ll show him just how much we appreciate him. Mmm, I bet he’d be a lot of fun. Can you say Gang-Bang No Jutsu?

“Crazy pervert. I’m not sleeping with Naruto.”

Yes, I was hearing that voice a lot more often these days. It worried me sometimes, and I spent more and more time in the library trying to figure out what was happening to me. Asking hadn’t been much help.

I don’t know why we’re like this any more than you do. Maybe we’ve got a touch of one of those weird recessive bloodlines, like that clan of guys with two heads. Maybe we were exposed to mind-affecting jutsu at an early age, or we have some kind of weird seal on us. To me it feels like we’re the same person, like two sides of a coin. Like you’re the brainy me, and I’m the ass-kicker.

“Well, as long as you’re not going to try to possess me or something.”

My second month of training with Ebisu was as productive as the first. He was so impressed by my instant mastery of water walking that I managed to talk him into testing us for elemental affinities. Mine was earth, which surprised me a bit, while Naruto’s was air.

“Now, don’t expect to get this down right away.” Ebisu warned after explaining our respective leaf exercises. “Most ninja need months of practice to master this step, and it isn’t uncommon for it to take years.”

I focused on the chakra in my hand, going deep like I’d done to try to analyze the Sexy technique. After the three-way incident I’d quickly figured out that the Sexy technique became permanent if I ran it long enough, but it took several weeks of serious research to get any concept of how. Even now I could barely begin to understand the subtle changes the technique made to my body, but at least I could feel them happening.

Compared to that, leaf-drying wasn’t so hard. I held up my hand with a triumphant smile, and poured out the dust that was once a leaf. “Has anyone else gotten it on the first try?”

“Not since Tsunade-sama was a genin.” He said in shock.

“You’re awesome, Sakura!” Naruto shouted.

With another month of taijutsu training I was fast enough to avoid the broken arm, but Temari knocked me out instead. I didn’t even wake up until the reset.

That set the pattern for the next few months. I’d make it through to the final exam every three or four tries, and spend the month training with whatever instructor Kakashi picked out. If Naruto made it through as well it was always Ebisu, but that only happened about one time out of three. Usually he got his butt kicked by Kiba or Shikimaru instead, and I ended up with a different instructor. The first couple of times he pawned me off on some medic-nin, which seriously pissed me off even though it was something I wanted to learn.

“I see.” I’d said bitterly. “Yeah, this way there’s no chance that I’ll pass the exam, but I’ll be a better support flunky for Sasuke when he makes chuunin. Good call, ‘sensei’.”

The asshole actually had the nerve to defend himself. “Sakura, it really is for the best. You’ve done well to make it this far, but you know you aren’t going to get strong enough to beat Temari in a month. Besides, you’ll make an excellent medic-nin.”

“I know that.” I snapped. “I just wish you could see that Sasuke isn’t the only one on this team with potential.”

“Sakura…”

“Just go.”

But that gave me an idea. Hinata never made it to the final round, and Shino and Kiba weren’t always there either. So I started to make a point of talking up my interest in genjutsu with Kakashi at the start of each loop, and laying on a little guilt trip about not teaching me anything that would keep me alive in an actual fight. I had an Ebisu loop and a couple of medic-nin loops while I worked on my performance, but eventually the odds came up my way.

“Sakura, this is Kurenai, the jounin sensei of team eight and one of Konoha’s finest genjutsu experts. She’s agreed to give you genjutsu lessons twice a week…”

“Yes!” I couldn’t contain my enthusiasm. “Thank you, Kakashi-sensei. I knew you’d listen eventually.” I turned and bowed to Kurenai. “Thank you for agreeing to teach me, sensei.”

A couple of hours a week isn’t much, but I took a page from Naruto’s book and practiced like crazy between lessons. By the time the tournament rolled around I could cloak my presence and call up all sorts of basic sensory illusions, and I had that Hell Viewing Technique down cold.

To be honest I was expecting to lose anyway, but apparently Temari had some pretty serious fears. She dropped to her knees and started screaming when I tagged her with the technique, her fan falling from nerveless fingers. I flickered in behind her before she realized it was an illusion, and knocked her out with a quick blow to the head.

She’d been screaming about Gaara.

Well, I suppose that made sense. Growing up with a psychotic monster like that would affect anyone.

For the first time I was actually awake and healthy when the invasion began, so when Kakashi sent Naruto and Shikimaru off to chase down Sasuke and Gaara I went with them. We actually tracked them down a few miles from the arena, and I found out the hard way where the giant sand monster came from.

That was Team 7’s best fight ever, for all that we’d been apart for a month. Sasuke was fast as lightning, Naruto’s clones were everywhere, and for once I was actually contributing something to the fight. I couldn’t seem to affect Gaara directly, but my illusions were great for distracting him while the boys set up attacks. I even managed to give Sasuke a chakra transfusion that let him get off another Chidori against that monster. When I pulled him behind a tree to feed him chakra there was a moment when he almost seemed impressed.

But of course it wasn’t enough. Eventually Gaara caught Sasuke in a Sand Coffin and crushed him to death, and then he pinned me against a tree with one giant fist of sand while he taunted Naruto. The last thing I saw was Naruto flying towards him surrounded by that strange red aura.

Then the sand crushed me, and the loop reset.

I threw myself into my training, determined to at least learn enough to come through the invasion alive. Who knows? Maybe that was all I really had to do to get out of the loop.

So I studied medical techniques, and taijutsu, and occasionally genjutsu. I talked Ebisu into getting me scrolls on Underground Move and Inner Decapitation, and read everything the library had to offer on the theory of technique construction. After a dozen resets I was actually surviving the Forest of Death on a regular basis, and I could usually beat Shikamaru or even Kiba in the arena.

I also died fighting Gaara four times, got eaten by Orochimaru’s giant snake once, and found out the hard way that Kankuro’s puppet used poisoned weapons. The only way I could even survive the invasion was to stay out of the major fights, and the one time I did that there wasn’t much left of the city.

Sure enough, the next day the loop reset.

I tried not to let it get me down, but it wasn’t easy. I wasn’t sure if it was even possible for me to get strong enough to stop something that big alone, and even if I could it would take a lifetime. I pressed on with my training, but I wasn’t optimistic.

Then I hit a new round of obstacles. First Ebisu started telling me that my skills were too far ahead of my body, and made me spend more and more time on strength and stamina training. Since I started each new loop back in my original body that was a complete waste of time. Then the medic-nin pronounced me ready for advanced techniques, which excited me until I discovered there was a mandatory year-long academic course I’d have to complete first. By then I knew it was only a matter of time until Kurenai decided I knew all the genjutsu a genin could be trusted with.

I blew off the test a few times to try to relax, but it didn’t help much. I’d lived through those first few days so many times they were like a too-familiar movie. You can only to the same shopping trip or lunch date so many times before it gets old.

“In a way I’m actually glad I’m crazy.” I said to myself. “At least I’ll always have someone to talk to.”

We’re not crazy, dummy. There’s just two of us.

“Yeah, that makes me feel so much better. Want to take over for awhile?”

Are you going to get pissed if I seduce Naruto?

“Never mind.”

Then something different happened. One day at the start of the loop Naruto breezed into the exam center holding hands with Hinata, and walked right by Sasuke and me with a casual wave.

“See you inside, guys.”

What the hell? That’s never happened before. What did we do different?

“Beats me. Come on, Sasuke.”

Naruto somehow managed to get a seat next to Hinata, and spent the time before the exam whispering in her ear instead of having the usual conversation with Kabuto. He even kissed her on the cheek once, which left me speechless. I wanted to investigate, but to be honest I was so stunned at having something new happen that I wasn’t sure what to do. Then Ibiki showed up and gave his menacing little speech.

“Hey, Sakura.” Naruto called. “I bet you’re going to shout or hit me or do something to get us thrown out of the test.”

I blinked. “What, because of Hinata? Hardly. You two make a cute couple.”

He opened his mouth to reply and then stopped with the most befuddled expression I’d ever seen on him, and considering this was Naruto that was saying something. He looked as confused…as confused as I’d been when he walked in with Hinata!

I felt a thrill of hope I hadn’t felt in months. But Ibiki was telling us to shut up and take the test, and if I was right I needed to make damn sure this was a full-length loop. Usually I’d just doodle or something while I waited for the tenth question, but this time I actually wrote down the answers just to be sure.

“I’m done!” Naruto called as he finished his paper. “Hinata, if you’re done too let’s make out.”

The shy girl flipped her paper over so fast I could barely follow the movement. “I’m done!”

Come to think of it, there was no rule against that.

They kissed. They necked. Hinata giggled, and moaned, and squirmed. Naruto was apparently a hell of a kisser. Ibiki looked like he couldn’t decide whether to be annoyed or impressed.

God, she’s cute when she makes those little whimpering noises. I told you we should give Naruto a try.

By the time Anko made her flashy entrance Hinata was about ready to pass out in her chair, and I was squirming a bit myself just from watching. That was one lucky girl. Then Ino came over to needle me.

“So, Naruto and Hinata. Who would have thought. Sure you’re not jealous after all?”

I laughed. “Maybe a little. But I think Naruto just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t freak out too much, since they’ve apparently been keeping it secret. Isn’t that right, Naruto?”

It was funny how confused he looked. “Um, yeah. Pretty much.”

“I never would have expected Naruto to plan that far ahead.” Ino laughed.

“My teammate has hidden depths, Ino. Besides, you can figure out anything if you get enough tries at it.”

Naruto didn’t react to the hint. Ino laughed again. “Well, I can see you three have a lot to talk about. See you at the next exam!”

Sasuke had already left for his afternoon training, since of course there wasn’t really a team meeting. That just left Hinata, who was clinging to Naruto like she was afraid he’d vanish if she let ‘s confusion was so adorable I couldn’t contain my giggles any more.

“So, Naruto, I guess you finally noticed that she likes you. It’s about time.”

Hinata gave me a surprised look. “You don’t mind?”

“I’ll cope.” I met Naruto’s startled gaze. “I was always so cold to you, I shouldn’t be surprised you found someone else. I’m sorry, Naruto.”

“S-Sakura?” He said. “You’ve never said anything like that before.”

“I’ve had a hundred and seventeen loops to think about it.” I replied.

I was terrified that this was just some strange fluke and he wouldn’t know what I was talking about. But his eyes went wide, and I knew I’d struck paydirt.

“Um, Naruto.” Hinata said after a moment. “If you want, I don’t mind sharing.”

Now it was my turn to be floored. Shy little Hinata proposing a three-way? Naruto choked and looked around wildly, and after a moment I realized he was looking for something to distract me with before I blew up at him.

“Um, well, yeah, we’d better get to that meeting, right Sakura? Wouldn’t want to be late—”

I smiled and put a finger across his lips. “Naruto, I’m not that girl anymore. Hinata, that’s unbelievably sweet of you, but I’m pretty sure Naruto has the girl that he wants. Now, why don’t you leave a clone to keep her company while we’re gone?”

I dragged Naruto off to an empty training ground and pinned him against a tree. “You remember! The forest, Orochimaru, the finals, the invasion, over and over again. Please, tell me you remember!”

“Um, yeah. I guess we’re both looping. But…you aren’t going to yell at me?”

We finally discover we aren’t completely alone in the loops, and this is his first thought? “Was I really that much of a bitch to you, Naruto?” He didn’t say anything. “Look, I’m really not like that anymore. My god, do you have any idea how many times I’ve watched you die trying to protect me? I do have a heart. I don’t love you, but…well, I guess maybe I do, a little. My alter ego certainly can’t shut up about you. But if you’ve looped as many times as I have, with me acting the way I used to…”

I hung my head. “You must hate me by now.”

“No. I don’t hate you, Sakura. I just got tired of it.” Tentatively, he put his arms around me.

The next thing I knew I was holding on for dear life as I bawled my eyes out, while Naruto awkwardly patted my back and tried to tell me it was ok. Eventually I ran down, and just stood there leaning against him.

“So.” He asked awkwardly. “You’re the smart one. Have you figured out what’s going on?”

“Not a clue.” I suppressed a sniffle. “My best idea was to try to pass the exam and see if that ended it. But no one’s going to make chuunin if Konoha gets leveled.”

“Yeah, that’s going to be tough. I can handle most of those guys, but Orochimaru is a monster.”

“No kidding. Not to mention Gaara.”

“Oh, Gaara’s a big teddy bear. I just need to make friends with him early on so he doesn’t join the attack.”

“You made friends with that psycho?” I had to laugh. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“Hey, he’s not that bad. Well, ok, maybe he is, but all you have to do is be nice to him and he comes around pretty quick. The problem is if I do that Orochimaru shows up with a bunch of other tough guys, and that demon lizard thing is even worse than Gaara’s sand monster.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon there comparing notes, learning each other’s discoveries and trying to come up with a plan. Some of Naruto’s ideas were amazingly silly.

“Muscle memory is a figure of speech, dummy! Reflexes are processed by the brain and engraved on your spirit just like any other kind of memory.”

“You mean I could have been improving my taijutu all this time?”

“Yep. I’m about as good as Sasuke was when we took the bell test, and still improving.”

On the other hand, I’d missed a lot as well.

“Sakura, we’re in a time loop. You don’t have to go around following orders anymore. Experiment, try crazy things, break the rules. As long as you don’t get caught before the next reset it doesn’t matter. Heck, even if you do get caught Ibiki likes to let prisoners sweat for a day to two before he does any serious interrogation. I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere if I couldn’t use the loops to talk people into things and get around security.”

Our first practice match was a revelation. Naruto was amazed by the way I used Invisibility Art, Underground Move and Body Flicker to dance around the battlefield picking off clones at will. Me, I was amazed at his jutsu selection.

“Naruto, how can you do all those fire jutsu? I know your element is air! Wait, and I saw water and lightning techniques too!.”

He shrugged. “I pretty much have to steal scrolls to learn anything, and those are the ones I’ve found so far. I’ve got tons of chakra and plenty of training time, so what difference does it make anyway?”

I had to laugh. “Only you could pull off something that crazy. You’re burning ten times as much chakra on that fire and lighting stuff as you’d need for air techniques, and they’ll always take more time to use. Tell you what, show me how that instant swamp thing you did works and I’ll show you some basic wind jutsu I’ve seen Ebisu teach you.”

“Well, I guess I can do that. But I really want you to teach me your genjutsu. I just can’t seem to get Kurenai to show me anything.”

“We’re teammates, Naruto. I’ll teach you anything I know.”

The Forest of Death was almost fun with the real Naruto on my side. Between his firepower and my finesse we flattened every obstacle in our way, played Orochimaru with style and panache and ended up at the forest arena three days ahead of schedule. Naruto even had time to send his clones on some complicated mission to get Neji injured so he wouldn’t end up beating up Hinata, which I thought was awfully sweet considering how many times he must have done it.

“Hinata’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” He said when I asked him about it. “I don’t get together with her that often, because it would kill me if she got boring too. But I’d already started the pattern when we met, and there’s no way I’ll let anything bad happen to her now.”

Naruto was pretty impressed when I got matched with Kiba and actually won. Apparently he’d had a lot of trouble with that fight in his early loops, before he learned enough ninjutsu to deal with it. Then he drew Shino as his opponent, which was a completely one-sided fight. Naruto just ignored the insects, running right through Shino’s swarms to beat on him while the little bugs leached chakra as fast as they could. They couldn’t drain enough to matter, and the biting ones could barely outpace Naruto’s healing, so it wasn’t long before Shino went down.

Then the training month started, and we got to really have fun.

“So that’s Jiraiya.” I whispered, eying the middle-aged man peeping on the women’s side of the hot spring. “He looks more like an old pervert than a legendary sanin.”

“He’s a total pervert. But he’s really strong, too. I learned toad summoning from him my first time through, and I’m sure he’s got lots of other cool stuff. But I can never remember what made him agree train me.”

“Well, maybe we can come up with the right approach if we put our heads together. What have you tried that didn’t work?”

Twenty minutes later Jiraiya’s note-taking was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder.

“Go away.” He whispered. “I’m busy with my research.”

“I bet we’ve got better ‘research material’ than they do, Jiraiya-sama.” Replied a sultry female voice.

He just about dropped his notebook when he turned around. Naruto and me were both in Sexy form with our arms around each other’s waists. We’d changed into tight tank-tops and very short skirts, but kept our forehead protectors and shuriken pouches.

“I’m Sakura.” I said in my best ‘sweet little schoolgirl’ voice. “And this is Naruto. We’re genin teammates, and very close friends. But our sensei left us all alone to go train our teammate, and we’re just desperate for an instructor to help us pass the chuunin exam. Do you know anyone who can help us?”

He stared. He drooled. Then he processed what I’d said, and broke down laughing. “Oh, that’s funny. You girls have me pegged, that’s for sure. But I can’t believe your sensei would leave students like you high and dry.”

Naruto rolled her eyes. “Kakashi’s too busy with the Uchiha to bother with us. He pawned us off on some looser who wants us to spend the whole month reviewing academy stuff.”

“Yeah.” I interjected. “Never mind that Naruto’s got enough chakra to lift the Hokage monument, and I’m matching Tsunade-sama’s record for instant jutsu mastery. Come on, give us a break. We can leave clones with our so-called instructor, so no one will even have to know. We’ll even keep the fan-service outfits!”

He chuckled. “Isn’t Naruto supposed to be a boy?”

“It’s a transformation technique.” She replied.

“Yeah, it turns the subject into a sexy girl. I still can’t believe he came up with that. Although since I’m already a girl, sometimes it makes me feel a little too sexy…” I snuggled against Naruto-chan’s side as my hand wandered suggestively up her bare belly. To be honest, I really was having a little trouble keeping my hands off her. Sexy form kicks my libido into overdrive, and Naruto-chan is even hotter than I am.

She smacked my butt, and I nearly had an orgasm. “Stop that, Sakura. I like you too, but I don’t want you freaking out when you change back.”

“Alright girls. I can see it’s my duty as Konoha’s most amazing ninja to rectify this terrible oversight. But if you want my training you’ll have to promise to do your best, dress properly and stay in those forms the whole time. Oh, and you’re definitely going to teach me that technique.”

Score!

Alas, Naruto really wasn’t comfortable enough as a girl for me to get too close. But we got in nearly a month of training under an amazing ninja, even if he did waste a lot of time making us pose for no good reason. Naruto learned a couple of neat wind techniques, and got to sign the toad summoning contract and practice with it again. I learned to make explosive tags, and got some serious training in armed combat techniques. He even showed Naruto the training technique for Rasengan, though by then there wasn’t enough time left for him to master it. I didn’t even try to do that one myself, since even with all my training over the resets I could tell I didn’t have enough chakra.

Interestingly, I learned even more from Naruto. He taught me Earth Flow River and Earth Rampart in a couple of days, and between his knowledge and a few hints from Jiraiya I managed to put together an Earth Clone technique a couple of weeks later. His wire control techniques were even easier — with their low chakra drain and emphasis on precision they were perfect for my style. In return I filled in the gaps in his spotty knowledge of genjutsu and medical techniques, including some handy first-aid jutsu designed for use by non-medics with relatively normal levels of chakra control.

“I don’t understand why we have to fight so hard to get this stuff.” He grumbled one evening as we walked home from the training grounds. “I mean, I know everyone hates me, but what about other people? You’d think they’d teach that first aid stuff to everyone who makes genin, and you guys could have all had an element and a bunch of attack jutsu before the loop if anyone had bothered teaching you.

“At first I thought it was Kakashi, but the other teams aren’t much better off. Heck, I can’t think of a single genin in Konoha who has more than one special technique. Why is that?”

“I’ve been thinking about that one for a long time now.” I said thoughtfully. “I think I’ve actually figured it out. You have to remember that we’re ninja, not samurai, and wars between hidden villages are usually won through treachery and deceit more than force of arms. Like the way Orochimaru seems to have compromised half the village before that surprise invasion even starts.”

“Ok, so?” He looked at me dubiously.

“So everyone’s afraid of giving too much power to the wrong people. The academy teaches some basic defensive techniques, and then they send us out to work directly under a jounin for a few years before they let us have anything better. The clans do the same thing, teaching their genin just enough to give them an edge and waiting for them to prove their loyalty before they learn more. I don’t think it ever changes, either. Have you noticed that chuunin only have a couple of favorite moves, and even jounin usually stick with a narrow specialty?”

“Yeah. I figured they just stick with what they like.”

“The lazy ones, maybe. I’ve certainly never seen Kakashi bother to train anything but his Sharingan. But if either of us spent a month in a jutsu library we’d walk out with more techniques than a Sanin, and we can’t be the only ones.”

“I don’t think there are any jutsu libraries. I’ve looked.” He seemed pretty put out about it, too.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Everyone is so afraid of their techniques ending up in the wrong hands that people like the Hokage will actually let them be lost instead. I think one of the biggest benefits we have in these loops is the fact that we can do whatever it takes to convince someone to teach us just one technique, and keep doing it again and again with different people. If anyone knew how much we already know no one would dare let us learn anything else.”

We walked through the darkness in silence for a few blocks, before Naruto spoke again. “We don’t have to be like that. If we meet again, we should share everything.”

I smiled, thinking of Hinata’s unexpected offer. “I agree. We’re in this together, so we should help each other as much as we can.”

I thought about that for a few more blocks.

“Naruto, there’s something else I want you to know. I’m afraid you really will start hating me if you have to put up with the old version of me for too many loops, so I’m going to tell you how to make it so you don’t have to.”

“What do you mean?” He asked curiously.

“I don’t think it would be hard to modify the Sexy technique to work on someone else. I also don’t think it would be hard to find a pattern where you use it on me and I end up being a lot nicer to you.”

If he kisses me like he did Hinata I’ll be jumping his bones in no time.

“Seriously? I figured you’d be pissed if I tried to use the loops to figure you out, Sakura. Especially something like that. Isn’t that kind of like mind control?”

“No, it’s not like that at all. I know it must be really weird for you, since you’re not normally a girl. But for me, what that technique does is more like letting the real me out of a cage. I stop worrying about rules and propriety and what other people will think, and just do what I want to do. It can be a little scary for me at first, but if I go too far it’s only because I’m drunk on freedom.”

We didn’t go to the tournament that loop. Instead we camped out atop the Hokage monument with a couple pair of field glasses, and watched the battle. The loop would end sometime in the late evening no matter what we did, so I convinced Naruto what we really needed was the big picture.

“I think the barrier around the Hokage box was the signal to attack.” I commented as the battle began.

“Yeah, you’re right. Here comes the giant snake. Where the heck did that thing get bibs, anyway?”

“What?” I took a long look at the three-headed summon. Sure enough, each head was wearing a massive bib. “Someone has a sick sense of humor. Hey, look, that’s Jiraiya fighting it!”

“Really? I always wondered who took that thing out. Check out the Hokage fighting Orochimaru.”

We watched for a few minutes. That was one incredible battle.

“Naruto, how many clones can you make and still have enough chakra that they can throw jutsu?”

He shrugged. “About a thousand, I guess. Enough to stop that Sand attack on the south wall, anyway. But then I won’t be able to fight any of the big guys, and I don’t think you want that job.”

“No, you’re definitely our heavy hitter. But that’s a good point — with any luck we can plan to do this in a loop where we’re together again. Woah, there goes Gaara.”

The giant sand monster went rampaging through the western side of town, tearing up training grounds and the homes of several minor clans.

“Yeah, he always does that if I don’t stop him. What I don’t get is all those trees growing up inside the barrier.”

I focused in on the Hokage’s duel with Orochimaru. There were plants everywhere, a couple of extra people running around, three coffins with big seals on them…wait, I recognized those marks. “Oh my god. That’s the first Hokage, the one with wood powers. Or at least his body. I don’t believe this. Orochimaru resurrected two Hokages as some kind of zombie mind slaves. Just how powerful is this guy?”

“I’ve never seen anything come close to beating him. Even Jiraiya and the Hokage working together couldn’t do it. When it plays out like this sometimes the Hokage cripples his arms somehow, but he dies doing it and Orochimaru gets away. See, there he goes. But Jiraiya dies taking down the Shukaku, and then the Sand guys rally and finish us off.”

I gave him a sharp look. “It sounds like you’ve seen this a lot more times than I have. Wait, I think the Hokage’s still breathing! Yeah, look! He’s been poisoned or something, but he’s not actually dead.”

“Hey, you’re right! Maybe you could heal him after they leave?”

“I’m not good enough yet, but I’ll work on it.” I replied. “That, and figuring out their barrier jutsu. If we could take that down everything would play out differently.”

He nodded. “Sounds good. I’m going to go back to taijutsu training, and keep working on my elemental attacks. Uh oh, we’ve got company coming.”

He pointed, and I made out a dozen or so ninja headed up the cliff in our direction. They’d be on us in minutes, and somehow I doubted they were all genin. “I see them. Looks like it’s time for our heroic last stand.”

We stood up and backed away from the edge to get some fighting room, but I had one last thing to do. As Naruto called up his first squad of clones I hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Take care of yourself, Naruto. I want my cool teammate back someday.”

He grinned and hugged me back. “You too, Sakura. I kinda like this being friends thing.”

Then the enemy ninja came boiling over the cliff edge, and it was time to fight.