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Got a bunch of questions asking about Enji's (and later, Sakura's dojutsu.)

So Enji's dojutsu is part of a set, the Kikaigan, the Kokaigan, and the Madogan. They all technically fall under his Kekkei Genkai (name WIP so if you've got ideas, I'd love to hear them).

As the infographic says, the Kikaigan can see up to five seconds into the future, while the Kokaigan does the same in the past. Both eyes, like most dojutsu, continually drain chakra while they're active (and the chakra pull increases proportionally the further you try to see).

As for the Madogan, opening that third eye allows Enji to see as far into the future/past of a person/location (that he sees or is at) as his chakra stores allow. The final release of the Madogan allows him to jump to that point in time- but at the cost of his chakra reserves.

Enji is physically 46 years old, but he's from 165 years in the past- long before Konoha even existed.

His sister was suffering from an illness that no one knew how to cure, (black plague yay!) so he popped his Madogan and tried to go into the future to find a way to heal her. Unfortunately, the jump obliterated 90% of his chakra reserves and damaged both his eyes in the process. Each jump costs a portion of his chakra reserves, so he will never be able to back to his original time and survive.

So TLDR Enji's on the brink of chakra exhaustion 24/7 and is functioning with only 10% of his original chakra reserves. His vision is absolutely fucked cause he can't turn off his stupid eyes, and he's got a migraine that's been living in his head rent-free for over twenty years. Oh yeah, and he faints like three times a week.

It's one of the reasons he lives in a desolate forest (fewer people) and wears shades (reduces symptoms). Once a year, he makes a trek to Chiyo's to get her help in staving off the worse parts of prolonged chakra exhaustion, but he and Sakura find out that his coils are deteriorating too fast, and he offers his Kikaigan to Sakura because in his words:

"I never want you to see what could have been, only what you can do."

Sakura is able to integrate the dojutsu into her empty eye-socket, though she can only see when its activated. In it's inactive state, it's blind.

---

Thank you so much for all the interest and love! I appreciate the amazingly kind words and comments everyone's been leaving <3 <3.

@sugutoad

@evaregia

@rearview-quandry

Sakura gets her first lesson in Genjutsu with Saeko. Based on the idea that humans have more than 5 basic senses (though there's no real science behind how many, with some saying 21, while others say up to 33).

Saeko is not actually a Hoshigaki- though they are very very distantly related. She is actually a Ningyo (mermaid) exiled from her coven, and living as a pariah, cursed to wander the earth, barred from the seas and rivers until she can get her pearl back.

As a mermaid-siren, she is intimately aware of the power of genjutsu (especially audial) and is a vicious teacher, forcing Sakura through rigorous training to teach her young charge how to understand and control her own senses/emotions before she attempts to do so on others.

Once again, thank you so much to everyone whose shown interest in this AU, you guys are giving me LIFE <3 <3. I'm so happy other people really feel that Sakura deserved a fighting chance. Together, we'll fix her!!!

@xoxo-lahh

So in this verse, Tsunade never ends up teaching Sakura- as that role is fulfilled by Chiyo.

And Chiyo's first rule (for everything lol) is: Nothing is Free.

Chiyo always demanded something in return for healing, and unlike Tsunade, she considered medical jutsu a part of her arsenal. If it could kill, then it was always an option.

So Sakura learned from that mindset, trading her services and using her rare skillet as a powerful negotiating tactic, especially during Tea Country's civil war. Her healing effectively kept her, Enji, and Saeko in relative safety and provided her a card to play when she needed.

And, while Sakura is nowhere near as jaded as Chiyo is, and often enough of a bleeding heart to help people for damn near free, (a place to stay, food for the night, a new holster for her kunai), she is also VERY pragmatic about her skillset. The civil war taught her that sometimes, letting someone die is better. This puts her at odds with Tsunade, who has a very different mindset (and was, historically, bitter enemies with Chiyo).

Another issue that arises with Tsunade, is that the Godaime is a doctor- while Chiyo is more of a healer. Their understanding of the human body comes from a different place.

Tsunade can name every bone and muscle and perform open-heart surgeries. Sakura can heal bone and stitch back together muscles and flesh on a very basic level, but she's never going to be able to open up a human body and revolutionize medical history like she does in canon. (In canon, Sakura creates a Jutsu that allows her to do a four-man surgery alone; she can't do that here.)

However, she can do some stuff that Tsunade claims is impossible—like reconstructing/altering someone's chakra network, unblocking tenketsu, sometimes turning off someone's dojutsu from a distance, and lite-healing remotely (Tsunade is very upset about this one specifically). A lot of it comes from her mastery of Genjutsu.

Genjutsu, as I reworked in my comic, requires a complete understanding of someone's chakra network to control ALL their senses. Sakura's understanding and control are so prodigious that she can almost autonomously control people's bodily functions (a skillset that is GREATLY aided by training with Chiyo's puppet mastery).

She uses Genjutsu as a tool to understand the body and employs it as both support (helping an ally maintain a sense of gravity as they're pulled underground or flung in the air, etc) and offense.

And that's it for the wall of text! Once again, thank you SO much for the amazingly kind words and all the interest in this AU! <3

A comic for a bunch of Sasuke asks!

Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi reunite with Sasuke, and things go a little (a lot) sideways.

At some point, Sakura had to come to terms with the fact that she never saw Sasuke as a real person, just an idol she could put on a pedestal or maybe a goalpost she could one day reach and prove herself worthy.

It's not that she faults herself for having a schoolgirl crush; it's that after he repeatedly rejected her and drew boundaries, she leaped over them because her feelings were more important than his.

She never took two seconds to consider his situation, how he was a young boy whose family was brutally murdered.

Sakura found a family—people who supported her during her darkest hours and picked her up when she fell, and she loved them more than life itself.

Who did Sasuke have? Any other clans? Konoha? The same city that made him sleep in the Uchiha compound? The city that was willing to sweep it under the rug? Danzo got away with almost assassinating Sarutobi; murdering a clan is peanuts.

Kakashi? The man is like a lifetime of trauma packed into a jounin uniform. He's absolutely not helping in any meaningful way.

Naruto was the closest thing he had to a real friend, because Sakura, instead of following the blonde's example and trying to become a real support for Sasuke, just became part of the problem.

When Enji died during the Tea Country Civil War, Sakura (and Saeko) felt so helpless and angry, and realizing she would never have any justice for it, and fell into a deep, dark place. The things she and Saeko did in that aftermath were heinous. But at least they got revenge. At least they got closure. It didn't fix anything, but it certainly fuckin' helped.

Now Revenge on Sasuke? Why, and what for? All Sakura sees now is a young boy whose pain and rage stunted him—whose desire for justice was warped into some 'curse of hatred' bs because loyalty to family over your government is the biggest sin in Konoha's eyes.

Konoha absolutely failed Sasuke (and later, failed Sakura).

If your family is brutally murdered and the people who swore to protect you do nothing, how can you be blamed if you leave to find justice -and, barring that, revenge- for yourself?

Konoha's already devoured Kakashi's soul, and left the man a stunted shell. Even if he understands, he's too shackled to Konoha to ever admit it.

Naruto's family's death was some vague, abstract concept, considering he never met/had any memory of them, so his idealization of Team 7 is a very toxic surrogate that he keeps bullying onto others- which works more often than not but can be so unbelievably insulting and tone-deaf.

Sakura? Now? She gets it. Revenge isn't going to save him, but at least it's better than sitting helpless.

And while she's angry that he dipped from Konoha without ever checking on her, she's absolutely forgiven him for never taking her seriously. After all, if Sakura never truly thought of Sasuke as a person, how can she blame him for doing the same to her?

Later in Tsunade's office:

Tsunade: You let Sasuke go?! When you had the opportunity to bring him in?!

Sakura: I'm a citizen, remember? Not my job. :)))

Once again, thank you SO much for all these kind asks! <3 <3

Why is anbu Sakura's hair black? Is it dyed for better disguising herself with the environment, or does she have a different family in that au?

So in the ANBU!au, ANBU masks all come with a specific array of seals that can be customized at user request. In Sakura's case, its impossible to maintain anonymity with pink hair, so a Henge Seal helps deal with that.

Not all ANBU masks have a Henge- because not everyone has extremely unique features that need to be hidden.

Her ANBU mask seals also feature:

Chakra Key and Disguise : This keys the mask to her specific chakra signature (so it can't be stolen) and helps disguise it. Mandatory to all ANBU.

Poison Filters/Detection Seals: These seals help recognize and filter common airborne poisons. They don't help against ingestion or infection, and don't detect more exotic toxins. Mandatory to all ANBU.

Meshed Eyes/Enhanced Vision Seals: Helps the wearer see more clearly at night, though the mesh is optional- as some users might need clear vision to use dojutsu.

Scent Blocking Seals: These help nullify specific scent markers, as agents are often sweating due to physical exertion. The seal isn't mandatory, but scent blocks of some sort are. It's also highly encouraged to use neutral bodywash and shampoo before missions.

Vocal Distortion Seals: These seals help modulate the user's voice without putting a strain on their vocal cords, as the distortion is handled by the mask. Not mandatory, but Sakura really doesn't want to be recognized.

All seals need to be occasionally recharged/rewritten at ANBU HQ- as they will eventually wear off.

Additionally, these seals are usually invisible to the naked eye, though a skilled fuinjutsu specialist can usually make them visible. The masks are also very damage-resistant and can handle quite a bit of abuse before they start chipping. Since the seals are separate, it's possible to lose only a portion of the mask's seals and keep the others active as long as most of the seal is there.

Some reunions, like Naruto and Lee, are filled with happy hugs and warm welcomes.

Others...not so much.

Ino and Sakura's reunion...yeah it doesn't go great.

Sakura had been invited back into her mother's estranged family after her accident, but on the way through Tea Country, the caravan had been attacked by bandits/dissidents and Sakura ended up jumping into a river to save herself.

Her body was never found, and she was considered dead. She has an empty grave right beside her mother's and father's in Konoha.

Ino, Naruto and Lee were devastated. Ino, in particular, was inconsolable. She'd just made up with her friend and they'd been struggling to find footing after Sakura's accident, so to get the news of her death crushed Ino.

She'd felt so guilty, fighting over stupid things like boys, all the dumb insults they'd leveled at each other, and her helplessness at Sakura's condition ate at her for a long time. Ino threw herself into the job and she left flowers at Sakura's grave every Sunday for a year (and her parents did it for her when she was on missions) before finally beginning to heal.

To learn that Sakura was alive the entire time, that she didn't care enough to send Ino a single letter...that she just let Ino go through all that heart-wrenching grief is a betrayal that Ino can't suffer. It's like having that wound, only just now scarring over, be torn open and salted.

She spent a year mired in grief, and the next three trying to mend the hole Sakura's death left in her life. And to have all of that history, friendship and grief disrespected... Ino doesn't talk to Sakura for almost 7 months.

As for Sakura, she was in such a depression after her accident, she managed to convince herself that she didn't matter to any of her old friends (especially because it was so awkward and difficult to find common footing with everyone after being honorably discharged). So she made the mistake of assuming no one cared, almost as a method of protecting herself from the consequences of her own decisions.

This bites her in the ass, ofc.

Eventually, they enter a 'cold but civil' relationship when Sakura makes a sincere, heartfelt (and groveling) apology. After that, the walls come down, but their friendship won't ever take the same form as it did before, but maybe that's for the better.

Their new friendship is much stronger.

Once again, thank you so much to everyone for all the amazing asks and the incredibly kind words about this AU!

@evaregia

Your post about Sakura and Sasuke was very interesting to read 👀 honestly you headcanon Sakura similar to how I headcanon her lol. The insecurity, self loathing, no one really believing in her.

Kinda makes me sad that the fandom was able to develop so much more for her and not the literal author of the story. But that kinda unfortunately goes for all the female characters in Naruto. Besides Tsuande, none of them really got a backstory or character development. And if they did, it was pushed back for their love interests.

I guess what I’m trying to ask is, if you could make another AU for one of the other Naru girls, who would it be and why?

Yes! Sakura (and all the Naruto girls- and honestly half the Naruto men) deserved more!!

For an AU, I would absolutely make Hinata become the Hyuga head and find strength in the kindness and empathy her family tried to beat out of her. I feel like this version of Hinata would suit Naruto better too.

A moment of mourning for something Sakura would have once given anything to hear from Sasuke....

Kind of followup to THIS comic.

But she and Saeko have had their revenge for Enji, and Sakura has had time to heal and find closure. She won't be any good to Sasuke because she's already left that path, and she won't abandon her coven/responsibilities either.

She's learned alot about Konoha over the past few years, and has to a big degree, deprogrammed herself from the Leaf's propaganda thanks to all her teachers and some brutal life experience, so she doesn't actually care if Sasuke were to raze the entire council/kages to the ground- but there ARE people (ino, Kakashi, lee, naruto etc-) who she loves and wants to protect, so she'll stay, for them.

Sasuke, for his part, is happy to have someone just verbalize that they empathize with his pain and that his desire for revenge is justified, though he's doesn't have the bandwidth to really understand where Sakura is right now, emotionally.

In this AU I kind of had an end for Sasuke where he is pardoned, but never returns to the village, though he does pass by once in a blue moon. When he does, Sakura (who doesn't end up living IN the village as much as in the forests of Konoha like their own little witch of the woods) is there to help with healing/supplies and they do end up as good, yet distant friends.

Once again, thank you so much for all the support and really nice questions/kind words for this AU!!! <3 <3

A moment of mourning for something Sakura would have once given anything to hear from Sasuke....

Kind of followup to THIS comic.

But she and Saeko have had their revenge for Enji, and Sakura has had time to heal and find closure. She won't be any good to Sasuke because she's already left that path, and she won't abandon her coven/responsibilities either.

She's learned alot about Konoha over the past few years, and has to a big degree, deprogrammed herself from the Leaf's propaganda thanks to all her teachers and some brutal life experience, so she doesn't actually care if Sasuke were to raze the entire council/kages to the ground- but there ARE people (ino, Kakashi, lee, naruto etc-) who she loves and wants to protect, so she'll stay, for them.

Sasuke, for his part, is happy to have someone just verbalize that they empathize with his pain and that his desire for revenge is justified, though he's doesn't have the bandwidth to really understand where Sakura is right now, emotionally.

In this AU I kind of had an end for Sasuke where he is pardoned, but never returns to the village, though he does pass by once in a blue moon. When he does, Sakura (who doesn't end up living IN the village as much as in the forests of Konoha like their own little witch of the woods) is there to help with healing/supplies and they do end up as good, yet distant friends.

Once again, thank you so much for all the support and really nice questions/kind words for this AU!!! <3 <3

I love Chiyo- and I kind of headcanon her as a Witch of the Woods (Sands???) archetype- a bitter old woman who has sacrificed too much, experienced and committed more atrocities than anyone can imagine, and who knows the truth about what lies in the hearts of men to live among the villages anymore.

In my AU she's got a pretty dark backstory. Back in time when Villages were just getting established, women weren't allowed to be shinobi in the same capacity as men. There was too much warring and death among the clans to risk women, so they were only ever allowed to serve as spies or medics. (Chiyo started off as a medic).

And like any military/fascist dictatorship, serving the state was more important than anything else- so women who were kunoichi were given missions to steal and return with powerful bloodlines. Even before villages, this was a common fear among clans (which is why so many of them have protective measures and inbreed/arrange matches very carefully).

Chiyo was one such woman, who took a X-rated mission in her youth because she was told it would 'serve her nation'. There was a powerful bloodline whose Kekkei Genkai could harden sand to something akin to Steel- something Suna very desperately wanted.

Chiyo succeeded in her mission, but despite the veneer of 'serving your nation', when she returned, she was considered, in her words, "Just another whore."

Then when her son didn't manifest the bloodline- it was worse, but Chiyo was happy because that meant her son was HERS. (This is when she met Enji, and he saved her son's life at great cost- so Chiyo owes him a blood/life debt.)

Then the war came, and they needed women to fight so now serving the nation meant something different, and Chiyo became a full fledged 'shinobi' and turned her healing towards poison and death- especially when she had to fight the Salamander.

Then she sealed Gaara and that was the atrocity straw that broke the camel's back and she dipped out Suna and retired to an oasis. She's still a healer, but adamantly refuses to serve shinobi.

Once again, thank you so much for these asks and all the support for this AU?

@youngpeacearbiter