Fanfic: Doctor Sasori Ch 1, Naruto

Warnings: For the most part this is a soft story, but there will be instances of depression, suicidal thought, violence, cannibilism, child endangerment / abuse / death, slavery, prostitution, and prejudice. As always I put warnings at the top of the chapter as need be. Proceed with caution to your mental health if you are sensitive to any of the listed themes.

This is a direct sequel, if you do not want to read the other stories that's fine. I'll give a brief spoiler so you can just go ahead and read this story if you want. (SPOILER: This OC has been stuck in a time loop for dozens of lifetimes in the Narutoverse. This is her last life in the Narutoverse.) Secondly, this is not a heavy parody like Reverse Harem / Sakura. Given that this is Lilly's final adventure in the Narutoverse I wanted to take a more thoughtful approach to provide her with proper closure. Plus I got, like, five side plots to finish.

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Pain pierced throughout my lower abdomen, and the tips of my fingers and toes felt chillingly numb. The pain in my abdomen was enough to make me weakly cry out, and when I did I found that my lungs were filled with blood.

Immediately realizing I was nearing death, I released the seal on my forehead and snapped my eyes open. My vision was a bit blurred, but I instantly focused on the giant (in proportion to my body) sword sticking out of my gut. It went straight through and dug into the wet ground underneath me. My chakra rushed to heal the broken ribs I had sustained, gently pulling them out of my lungs and repairing the tissue soon afterwards. Once I could breathe enough, I grasped the sword, unfortunately I had to grab it by the blade, as the hilt was too high up for me to reach.

I slowly pulled the sword out, keeping my whimpers to a minimum.

The sword was jagged on all ends and ripped up my organs and nerves as I pulled it out. Thankfully I had lifetimes (haha) worth of medical experience to pull from and I expertly directed my chakra to each issue.

Once the sword was fully out of me, I cauterized the wound with my chakra and let out a long sigh of relief.

That relief was short lived when I realized that I had next to no chakra, and no idea what the hell happened.

Feeling vaguely annoyed, I slowly sat up and assessed my surroundings.

I was dead center in a crater of some kind. What created the crater, I wasn't entirely certain. There were wisps of spiritual energy burning all around me and the crater. The white smoke-like substance felt oddly familiar and I had to wonder if it came from me. The explosion that created the crater certainly came from where I currently laid, so it would be the logical conclusion.

I knew I had a disproportionate amount of spiritual energy than most other humans due to my uncanny ability to constantly be reborn after death.

That didn't explain the why, though.

Shakily, I stood up, and I realized that my body was significantly shorter than what I was used to.

'Disoriented?' I thought. I could've gotten a concussion from the blast. I didn't have enough chakra to safely check for a head injury, though.

Wobbly, I hobbled out of the crater and saw a grotesque sight.

There were bodies everywhere.

There had clearly been a fight between the two groups. One group looked like old-style bandits we had read about in history. The other group looked equally old-style, but from some kind of clan I didn't recognize. Each piece of clothing and armor they wore had the symbol of some kind of flaming bird. I almost wanted to call it a phoenix, but I didn't think phoenixes existed in the Narutoverse folklore.

There were wisps of spiritual energy burning on each of the bodies, and I had to wonder if perhaps the blast that I (maybe?) caused killed them.

Whoops. Hope they had better luck in their next life.

Then I realized that they were rather large in proportion to me.

That was about when I had the most horrifying thought.

With the last bit of chakra I had, I had spat out a low level suiton jutsu into a hole in the ground. When the water stilled I caught my reflection.

I wanted to cry.

The hair was still Sakura's signature bubblegum pink.

The skin still matched her, too.

That was about it for similarities, though.

The body I was in was younger, for starters. I placed it about the age of five. My seal on my forehead, which was once a dull green, had transitioned into a dull blue. The nose was smaller, and face wider. The eyes, however, were the greatest give-away.

Blue.

I was in someone else's body.

But, no. That wasn't quite right. I had the seal on my forehead, which meant that this body had been building up chakra for at least three years. A quick glance at my clothes confirmed that this body was likely with the flaming-bird group.

The group was attacked. The attack triggered enough stress to—to trigger the seal. To wake me up.

For me, it seemed like I had finished the great war in one moment then woke up here.

In reality, I had somehow died shortly after the war and been reborn as this girl.

Grief hit me, then.

Tears sprung from my eyes as I crumpled where I was. The pain of losing Kakashi and the others forever was too great for me to bear. My body quaked, and I let out the first of many sobs that night.

I cried and screamed, unable to find the strength to do anything else all throughout the night, and well into the morning.

My head hurt, but since I had enough chakra again I numbed the pain immediately.

It was the next day, and the bodies were starting to smell. I knew I had to find shelter for myself soon-ish. I had to eat, and drink, otherwise I would die and—and—who knew what other body I would wind up in. At least there was a good chance I was still in the Narutoverse. I had chakra, and the seal, so that might have been a chance I could find Kakashi and the others again.

Even if it was a different reality and they had no idea who I was. For them, I would absolutely be prepared to earn their friendship again. Maybe I could even be lucky and I was born a bit further back from my timeline, and I could grow up with Obito, Kakashi, and Rin.

That vague sense of hope gave me the motivation to not let myself starve to death for the moment.

I gathered up the discarded kunai, and shuriken from the battle. I found a backpack that wasn't torn to bits, and I gladly stuffed the essentials inside. I stuffed in a few pairs of clothes, a senbon to use as a sewing needle for the time being, three canteens of water, and wire. That was about all I could fit into a backpack, and carry with the body I currently inhabited—ah, I mean—I did not have the strength to carry much for very far.

Thankfully whoever I had become had some impressive reserves for a child. Despite being five(?), she—ah, I—had Genin level reserves.

The first thing to do was find shelter, and hopefully food along the way. Nothing around me seemed familiar, but I knew Konoha was stationed in the far East. I also knew I was definitely in the Land of Fire from the climate and the types of trees. It certainly wasn't Hashirama's famous forest, but the oak-maple hybrids around me only grew in the Land of Fire. Assuming I was in the Narutoverse I knew, at least, or something very similar.

I leaped up into the trees and began my long journey to what I hoped would be home.

I continued my journey for two days.

I had to stop and rest frequently because my body wasn't quite able to keep up with the strain. I hunted what I could, grateful I was in a rich forest and even more grateful that I stuck to studying botany even after obtaining the Salamander contract.

As I journeyed the land became increasingly familiar, yet alien. I came across a river that I knew, yet it was slightly different from my memories. The trees were younger and there were no paved roads.

And I never found a tree made by Hashirama.

I had my suspicions, and when I finally came across the spot where I knew Konoha would be made, they were confirmed.

I was in the past.

Perhaps another reality of Naruto's story, even. Regardless, though, I was most certainly the Warring Clans era.

In Madara and Hashirama's era.

Okay. I was definitely in some form of pre-Konoha.

'Okay.'

There was a surge of panic for a moment but I immediately slapped my cheeks several times. The stinging was enough to keep my mind afloat as I viciously tore down and shoved my distraught aside.

Survival first.

Emotions second.

I needed a place to stay. I had to find a permanent place to squat down and make safe because I simply could not move around forever. I was most familiar with the Land of Fire, and the area surrounding Konoha, so it would make the most sense to put my home in that forest. Even if it wasn't Hashirama's forest I knew enough of the major landmarks to always find my way through. Not to mention I knew which herbs were edible around here, and where they were to likely grow.

I set off with a new purpose: find a spot to plant my booty for the foreseeable future.

I needed a place that would provide easy access to clean water—running water would be best, but I wouldn't say no to an underground lake—and natural shelter against the weather. The Land of Fire could get some pretty intense storms and tornadoes come spring. I tracked down a few rivers I knew and followed them East until they turned into a more gentle stream. At the end of the stream I knew it fell into an underwater cavern that was nothing but water.

The trees above the cavern were strong with such easy access to water and the underbed was covered in plants.

'This will do,' I thought. I picked out a good strong tree and channeled my chakra into a chakra scalpel. Even if the trees weren't as big as I was used to, they were still pretty dang huge. It took a solid half an hour to cut through one of them enough to knock it down in a punch.

Then again my chakra scalpel was pathetically tiny. Even if I had decent sized reserves and the know-how to utilize them to the max I was still a child.

I had to take a small break afterward to regain my strength.

Then, with almost all of my reserves left, I created a large hill—wide enough to fit the Hyūga main wing compound, but only about three stories high. I manipulated the earth to spread it out as far as I could to make it look as natural as possible. The dirt wrapped around and covered the base of many trees and plants, but I was ultimately satisfied with my work. The hill cut off sharply at a ninety-degree angle at the highest point, and that was where I would be building my home inside the hill.

Given how rich the soil was, and the easy access to water, I was certain the top of the hill would be covered in grass within the week.

Unfortunately, that was all I could do for the day. My reserves were too low to safely work further. The hill took more out of me than I anticipated—and I suspected it was because the body I was currently in didn't have a natural affinity for doton ninjutsu—and I was forced to scarf down the last bit of food I had and collapse at the base of the hill.

I welcomed sleep like it was the only friend I had in the whole world.

In a way, that was now true.

My eyes creaked open and I immediately flushed out some of the lactic acid that had built up in my muscles from sleeping on such an uncomfortable "bed". Once that was done I headed out to catch food for the day, intent on finding rabbits so I could skin them for their fur.

I found a couple of foxes that made my heart ache with loneliness. I left them alone, though. I'd like to imagine Naruto and Kurama would be happy that I did.

After two hours of hunting, I found a lone doe and a few rabbits. I was quick with their deaths, never wanting to cause an animal pain, and gave a small thanks. I brought them back to my hill, eating one of the rabbits first, saving its fat, and hanging its skin and fur to dry over a small fire. The trees were large enough that I doubted the smoke would break through and be spotted.

Not that I cared if it was spotted or not. Company would have been nice.

Then I set to work at cutting up the tree.

My intention was to manipulate the dirt under the hill into hardening into a stone wall. I'd create a box inside of the hill using the stone wall, and then another box on top of it. I would use the wood from the tree to place on the inside of the box, as well as make the doors and window frames.

I'd have to go digging for some clay to make a fireplace inside (which I would have to create a storage seal above it to suck in the smoke, since I didn't want my home to be so easily discovered and constantly having smoke pour out the top of a hill would be a dead giveaway. Thank the Goggle Gods Naruto made me learn the basics, and I remembered enough from Miwako, Naasica, and Nao.), I doubted it would take more than a day.

My back, shoulders, and limbs ached fiercely from cutting up the tree, but I continued. The sooner I had it done, the better off I would be.

Once I was satisfied with what I cut up, though, I knew I had to treat it, next.

'Before I'm done, I better go ahead and hunt down what I'm going to treat it with.'

Typically I would have bought a simple wood treatment, but I doubt that was available, yet.

The only oils I had available were natural animal fats, and the oils from the nearby olive trees.

I paused in my cutting to create two earth clones to start the process of extracting oil from the olive tree.

When the sun dipped down and I lost light, I ate the last rabbit and went to sleep.

Again, I woke with the sun.

I sent out clones to start hunting down more oil from the tree, as well as edible plants. I worked on carving up the deer, cooking the meat and setting the fur off to the side to dry in the sun. I ate a bit of the deer, chewing the meat slowly as I procrastinated doing more physical labor.

I got to work on treating the wood I had, knowing it would take several treatments and at least three days before it would be ready to use. Once that was done I headed out to get clay to make for the fireplace. I headed a bit further from my home, knowing I'd have to dig for quite a bit and not wanting a big hole near it. Then I channeled chakra into my fists and began pounding straight down, cracking and breaking up the earth before grabbing large chunks and throwing it away.

My tiny body trembled at the exertion, but I knew I could keep going, so I did.

I reached the clay soon enough and began carrying it back to my humble abode.

By the time I had everything said and done the sun was already dipping over the horizon and my clones had finished gathering what they could. With the last bit of sunlight at my back I lit another fire and tried to relax.

I wasn't able to heal myself much, as the muscles had to become damaged and regrow in order for the body to become stronger, but I did take away some of the trembling.

I munched on some sour berries and ate a bit more of the deer. I'd have to finish it off tomorrow morning, as the meat would be spoiled by tomorrow evening for sure.

After three days had passed, I finally had the barebones of my homemade. I made the fireplace first, sculpting it from clay and adding stone outside and around it. I smoothed it with my chakra. It certainly wasn't a masterpiece—scarcely more than a glorified clay/stone fire pit at the far back wall of my home with high walls, but I was proud of it. The seal above it was harder to make, since I only had my blood on hand.

Blood, of course, was not encouraged in most seals. Since the seal I was utilizing was extremely basic, though, it would make do. I drew it on a slab of stone I carved and then placed it above the fire pit (I had to draw a sticking seal to the back of it).

I brought in the wood after it was treated, using my scalpel to neatly slice through bits that were too large. I laid down the floorboards and put up wooden walls against each of my stone walls. I added sticking seals and bug-away seals on each of the stone walls before I laid the wood over it.

I carved a square out on the ceiling of the first stone box, then I made crude stairs (literally planks sticking out the wall) so I could climb up to the stone room I made above. I made another fire pit up there, knowing that it could get horribly cold in winter.

Unfortunately, I ended up having to make a few pillars on the bottom room to better support the top room since the stone was so heavy. I wasn't able to wrap the wood around them, though, so they remained naked.

I still had a lot of wood left over, each day I sent out clones to hunt for me while I carved furniture. I wasn't a master craftsman like others, but I had great motor control and an eidetic memory (thankfully that carried over). I first carved some counters for my kitchen—I placed them on either side of the fire pit on the first floor, making enough so they went all the way to both walls.

I made more counters to place in front of them to act as the invisible wall for the kitchen. I added a stone basin for my sink, knowing I'd have to set up a plumbing system soon.

I made a table with chairs, and several flower pots I would keep indoors so I could grow essential things throughout winter (Sasori taught me a reflection seal. I would draw one seal somewhere that would get a lot of sunlight, then draw the opposite seal above my plants. The first seal would suck in the sunlight and spit it out over the second seal. The seal only worked with sunlight and water). I covered both of the side walls in my first room with the flower pots and filled them with dirt.

Then I decided it was finally time to work on plumbing.

Obviously I would be drawing from the underwater lake, but I would have to filter my dirty water, too.

I knew the filter seal—Kakashi taught me that one—and it took many tries to finally get it right.

I made a big stone bowl away from my home and I carved the filter seal seven times into it.

Then I went back home, dug out a hole in my first room and set to work on making a small tunnel system directly to the underwater cave below. I carved suction seals deep under the water, and one reflection seal before heading back up. I put one of the reflection seals in the stone basin of my kitchen, another one in the stone tub I made and put in the room above, and the last one I put outside my home in case I had to water my plants outside.

Then I put a suction seal in my sink and tub, and the reflection seal to both those suction seals in the giant stone bowl I made, then a suction seal.

So: Water would be drawn from the underwater lake and put into either my sink, tub, or an area outside to water my plants. When I was done with that water I would activate the suction seals on the inside of the sink and tub, and the water would be dropped into the big stone bowl away from my home. As the bowl filled with water the filter seals would purify it (sucking in impurities before spitting them out elsewhere). Once the bowl was filled, and no longer dirty, I would activate the last seals and it would be suctioned back into the lake.

I would have to redraw the seals about once a year, but it would have to do until I could get a hold on some proper pipes.

By the time I had all of that set up I had accumulated enough furs to make a bed.

I'd probably have to hunt down a town and steal some basic essentials I couldn't scavenge from the forest, unfortunately. Underwear would be a necessity that I couldn't make safely from fur, and I had no way of making soap. I needed grain seeds, and some livestock, too.

They'd be too expensive, so I'd have to steal. I wouldn't steal from a struggling family, though, desperate or not.

I needed seeds for medicinal herbs I couldn't easily find.

Salt would be another big one. I'd need proper ink to turn into chakra ink so I could make a cooling and heating seal (cooling seal for fridge/freezer, and heating seal for delicious hot water).

Those were the big ones I absolutely needed. Everything else could come with time.

A week and a half after I started building my home I headed off. I knew where the nearest dirt road was and I could guess it would lead me to some kind of merchant town. I remembered from my history classes that there were plenty of towns that warring clans used as neutral grounds.

Everyone had to shop somewhere.

It took me half a day of sprinting with chakra bursts before I found my nestling little town. It wasn't even a quarter of the size of Konoha, but it was surrounded by decent-sized farms I could steal from.

No one paid the dirty, ragged, little girl much glance. It was obvious I had no money, and I doubt many of them thought I could have been a danger to them.

The long pink hair was a dead giveaway for my gender in a stereotypical sense. The big blue eyes didn't help dissuade that notion, either.

I found a monk with shockingly silver hair. Monks were typically trustworthy, so I hoped he would be able to point me in the direction of the town's herbalist.

My throat cracked from being unused for so long. "H-Hello."

The monk turned around and I felt my heart shatter.

My eyes burned and I couldn't stop the tears from falling down my cheek.

The monk was a mirror image to Kakashi, with the beauty mark on the chin and everything. The only difference was that his nose was ever so slightly smaller and rounder. My bottom lip quivered. "Kakashi-sensei?"

The monk gave me a smile that did not reach his eyes and was so definitely not Kakashi's smile. "I'm sorry, little girl. I'm Asao. Do you need a place to stay?"

I rapidly shook my head. "N-No. S-Sorry. You look l-like someone I knew. Ple-please, do you kn-know where herbalist is?"

"This town doesn't have a herbalist," he responded. "Why do you need one?"

"Seeds. Can't find s-some."

Asao kneeled down so he was at my eye-level, his eyes still cold. "Why do you need seeds, little girl?"

"Grow my g-garden," I managed, my voice hoarse. "Sorry, been a wh-while since I talked."

"It's okay," he said in soothing tone that failed to soothe me. "Maybe I can help. I'm familiar enough with the land and the basics."

"'Kay. Need t-turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, holy basil, saint wort, g-garlic, sea buckthorn, an-andrographis, calendula, co-comfrey, and grain seeds."

Asao frowned minutely. "That's quite a list. Are your parents doctors?"

I couldn't resist smiling at that. "N-No parents. I'm a doctor."

He raised an eyebrow.

I pulled out my kunai and he immediately twitched. He didn't jerk backward, but I could see the surprise on his face. I dragged the dull tip of it across my palm and held up my bleeding hand. Then I put the kunai in my mouth and healed my hand with Shosen.

Asao's eyes were wide when I was done. "That's quite a gift. Who taught you?"

"Someone n-not alive," I responded back honestly. "Jus' me now. Help me w-with seeds?"

Asao then smiled, his eyes less cold. "Even better. The doctor in this village recently passed away and I had been sent here by the Fire Temple to assist until a new one is found. Heal the people of this village for today, and I will fetch you your seeds."

"I need m-more than seeds," I admitted to him.

"I'm sure we'll find you something," he responded. "Come with me."

My first patient was a middle-aged woman. There was a fairly decent sized gathering outside the clinic, their eyes filled with open skepticism. The woman approached me with her arm in a sling, a sneer on her face. "Broke it a month ago. Can a little thing like you properly set it?"

"Can d-do better," I told her, reaching my glowing green hand out to her. She minutely jerked backwards but allowed me to touch her.

I numbed her pain, and her eyes widened. I then stitched her bone back together, and repaired the surrounding muscles. She pulled her arm out of the sling and rotated it, awe on her face. "It's completely better."

Gasps and whispers broke out from the crowd then a man shoved his way through and pulled up his pants leg to show a foul-smelling infectious filled cut. "Fix me, quick! I-I don't want to lose my leg."

I gave him a comforting smile and patted for him to sit beside me. "W-Will fix you up. Good a-as new."

When the sun set, I was out of chakra and had to turn away a few patients. I promised them I would take care of them in the morning, though, which comforted them. Asao stood waiting outside of the clinic with a burlap sack in his hands. It was decently sized.

My smile widened as he held it out to me and I found many smaller sacks inside. "Thank you."

"I see you helped the villagers," he commented.

"Will stay ov-overnight and finish in the morning. Gotta go back h-home when done, though. I-I think I will come back, though. Once a week sh-should be enough."

Asao nodded, reaching over and patting the top of my head. "I think they would welcome you. You do not wish to stay?"

"Worked too damn hard to give up on now," I muttered. "My home."

Asao gave a shrug. "I can't complain as long as you return. It was my duty to help oversee the sick and find a new doctor, so you assisted me there and I thank you. I'll go fetch one of the villagers to show you the previous clinic."

"These belonged to the previous doctor. If you can use anything, please take it," Sayori, wife of the village chief, told me, gesturing towards the pile of clothes. She had ushered me inside a rundown clinic after Asao left.

I smiled in relief. They were large and relatively in good shape. The previous doctor must have taken excellent care of them, quickly mending any issues. It would be easy to put together clothes for someone of my stature from such a variety of options. I would even be able to make some blankets.

My hands gently touched the clothes. "He m-must have been a careful man."

"He was," Sayori responded softly, a somber light in her eyes. "He will be missed."

"Every seventh day I'll come back here," I murmured. "I d-don't live far, half a day's journey directly east, in case you need me for an emergency."

"Thank you," Sayori said. "Doctors are scarce enough to find, let alone one so capable."

I shrugged. "'S what I do."

A flicker of hesitation appeared on her face before she shook her head. Sayori gently touched my shoulder. "I know you're a young girl, Sensei, and that can cause a lot of trouble. You saved a lot of lives today, so I know I speak for everyone when we say we don't want you to get hurt. It might be best for you to hide your gender."

My eyes flickered back up towards her and I nodded slowly. "You're probably right. I re—I mean. I kn-know this time period is not kind for women. Will the village hide my identity?"

"We owe you our lives and good health."

I turned back towards her. "Okay. Call me Sasori, then. Hatake Sasori."

I left the village with more than I had anticipated getting. I had most of the herbs I needed to get started on a medical garden, in addition to a few herbs I could grow for eating purposes. Obviously I was going to need a fairly big garden in order to make enough food to sustain myself—shinobi and kunoichi had notoriously high metabolisms and needed to eat a lot; it would be even worse for me since I would be pushing myself to build my chakra reserves—but thankfully I had plenty of land around me and enough water to do so.

I was graciously given five fertilized eggs that would hatch into chicks for me in a couple weeks; which gave me plenty of time to construct proper shelter for them. In addition I was provided with ink, a brush, and everything else left behind by the previous doctor. Most of the stuff I left at the clinic because it would be easier to keep it there and use it on the villagers, rather than bringing it back and forth. I took most of the clothes, though, because I sorely needed them. I definitely took the soap, too, and Asao promised to drop by the village occasionally to bring more soap.

Soap was a cherished necessity as a doctor.

All in all it was a great haul for me.

I kept the eggs under my clothes and as warm as I could while I set about making a nest. I first drew up a simple heating seal—nothing extravagant, but enough to keep them nice and toasty until I made a shelter for them. I carved out a box from the tree and stuffed some of my raggedy clothes to use as an insulator. I then drew the heating seal on the top inside of the box and immediately felt the entire box radiate heat. It would last for about a month until I had to redraw it, but by that point the eggs should have hatched.

I kept the eggs inside my house while I set to work on my garden and their coop. The garden I decided to grow right outside the front of my home, both for easier access and because my hill would block some of the worst winds. I had to uproot (chop down then dig up) a few more trees to make room, and I decided to use them to make a makeshift fence to keep out any animals from munching on my treasured plants.

With what was left of my chakra after chopping down the trees I made another hill beside my home, and another little stone box cave inside of it for the coop. I carved heating and cooling seals inside of it, either one would activate once it felt a specific temperature (heating would activate at 60 degrees Fahrenheit, or 15 Celsius; while cooling would trigger at 75 Fahrenheit, or 23 Celsius. It would keep the cave at the ideal temperature). I drew the same seals with ink in my own home, but they would have to be manually triggered on my end. I didn't think I would really need them for my home, but having the option in the dead of winter would be swell. I carved quite a few cooling seals on a couple stone boxes I made, making a crude freezer and refrigerator, and with glee I drew heating seals on my tub upstairs.

I built a fence around the cave-coop, making it high enough that other animals couldn't hop over. I would plant some poison ivy around it to discourage any diggers, too.

With some long grass I weaved many bedding and placed them inside the cave, and I made another long and shallow stone bowl for water. I carved numerous filter seals in it to hopefully keep it clean and safe for them. Then I finally brought in the eggs and placed them in the nice and comfortably warm coop before getting started on my garden.

Tiredly, but meticulously—frankly it felt like I was on auto-pilot for most of this—I carved fence posts out of the fallen trees. I didn't have nails, or really anything to keep them together, but sap and sticking seals. I would have to dig them far enough into the ground they would hold—I would harden the ground around them to help with that—and put them so close together that small animals wouldn't be able to crawl through. I was making a misshapen privacy fence, essentially. I started at the base of my home and encircled a large area. I moved around a lot of thorny and thick bushes and replanted them directly outside my fence so anyone traveling through wouldn't see the man-made fence. When I had the chance I would plant poison ivy, and oak all around it, knowing most animals—and humans—would keep away from the area upon seeing such a massive undergrowth of naturally growing poison.

By the time I had my fence up, my herbs planted, and my coop made it was time to return to the village again.

I found myself looking forward to the human company.

Most of the villagers were fatigued, but had no serious injuries. I eased their aches, encouraging healthy muscle growth and creating medical charts for each of them. For that weekend I went out of my way to spend individual time with each of my patients and took detailed notes about them to reference. I needed to know their allergies, genetics, previous injuries and so on. The doctor before me didn't do much in regards to such, and the villagers seemed surprised at my questions.

I never pried too much about their sexual life, or anything equally as "embarrassing". In my previous life such questions were expected of doctors, but here not so much. I was still a stranger to them, even if I saved their lives and they promised to keep my identity a secret. In time I would earn their trust, and hopefully be able to ask the uncomfortable questions, but for now I would have to make do with what I had.

The doctor before me still had some dried herbs I could use, but I knew I would have to grow my own stock as soon as possible.

I was enjoying my time as their doctor.

The first snowfall of that year—since I had arrived, at least—was a heavy one. It had been getting progressively colder in the past couple of weeks and when snow finally fell it stuck to the ground without melting. It snowed heavily on throughout the night, and I was instantly grateful I had the foresight to create underground gardens. My topside garden would be dead for the rest of the winter, so I would have to rely on what grew in my little—okay actually it was pretty big—makeshift basement/greenhouse.

When I first opened my eyes on that snowy morning I felt a shiver crawl through my spine and I hurriedly tossed more wood on the fire. It wasn't necessary because of the heating seal, but it was comforting. I liked the sound of the crackling wood, and the smell of ash reminded me of Naruto and Kurama.

I stretched out my limbs and freed my hair from its nightly ponytail. I found it easiest to comb my hair at night after a hot bath and put it in a braid so I didn't have to worry about it when I got up in the morning. I slipped into a pair of loose, thick, black pants and a scarlet red yukata with a black obi. I chose to stick to the bright colored clothing to make it easier for the villagers to find me, and recognize me. Not many wore such colorful clothing in such a dangerous area.

'I should head down to the stream,' I thought. 'Try to save what herbs I can. I don't want to pull from my garden unless necessary.'

With that in mind I pulled on my boots and headed out into the snow. I immediately began to regulate my body's temperature with chakra, deciding it was too cold not to. I stopped by the coop, checking in on my darling chickens before I headed out. All of them were snuggled with one another, still asleep, but seemingly content. I could feel the heat coming off their coop, and I was glad I wouldn't have to redraw the heating seal again so soon.

I made a clone to pull out the dead, dormant, dying, whatever, plants from my topside garden. Might as well preserve and press what I could. I headed out, though, hopping over my fence and from treetop to treetop until I reached the stream.

To my surprise, there was a thin layer of ice over it.

I meandered down to the stream, examining the ice with careful eyes.

'Strong first frost,' I thought, 'gonna be a cold winter.'

Feeling a little apprehensive about that, I outwardly frowned. Thankfully I had awoken in the summer, and already had a good shelter constructed before the cold winter came. It'd be dreadful if I had to do all that work in the dead of winter.

'I'll have to harvest some verbascum and equisetum before I head into the village in case anyone caught frostbite,' I thought. 'Better grab some chamomile, too. Hopefully no one will be stupid enough to go out wet in weather like this, but you never know.'

My lips twitched up in a reluctant fondness for the villagers. Despite only being their doctor for a few months they had all grown on me. They were my patients.

Not to mention they were the only human contact I regularly had.

Asao still visited about once a month, bringing me a bit more seeds he happened to pick up.

I heard a sudden crunch of snow a little ways from me and my head snapped up.

There was a boy, certainly no older than six, stumbling in the snow towards me. He wore a dark navy blue yukata and black pants with a black obi tied around him. His hair was obsidian and spiky, and upon seeing his face I instantly knew who he was.

It didn't matter what life I was in, I would always recognize such a treasured soul.

Uchiha Madara.

I took a step towards him, and his eyes met mine.

I felt my breath catch in my throat because his eyes were glazed over and looked only vaguely coherent. His cheeks and nose were red, and I saw him wobble on his feet. Ever still, he weakly raised his hands and arms in obvious show of defense.

"It's okay," I immediately soothed the young child. "I'm a doctor."

His brow furrowed, but before he could say anything his body swayed and his eyes rolled back.

I lurched towards him, my knees hitting the snowy ground as I barely caught him before he face-planted into it.

So many questions whirled around in my head.

'What was he doing here? Were the Uchiha close by? He wasn't in a battle uniform, why was he out here? Did he already meet Hashirama?'

I shoved them all away, though, because none of it mattered.

Right now I had a sick boy in my arms.

And I'd be damned if I didn't save him.

I ̥̳s̿͆t̲̬̪̊ͫ͂̚i͌͊̚l̰͇̙̝͇̓̃ͫl̬̫͙̤͉̾͒͛͋̐ ͓̣͓̿r̝̮̰̙̽eͨͅme̯͖̭̲ͨm͍̮̖͕͔̈́͛b͙͖͎͖̈́̆ͭ͌ͪe̺̥̩͔͕̎r̪̬̝̔ y̘ͨ̍͊o̲͇̝̲̱̒̃͋̒̊u̗̮ͣ̎̏

Ages:

Sakura: physically 6 / spiritually ? / mentally ?

Madara: 6

Asao: 29

Question: If you could choose to be reborn with all your memories at any point in your favorite story… what time would you pick and what story?

Reviews are love!

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