VIDEO🍃

[punches]

Mahogany Town is pretty great all around, don't you think? [ Just a couple weeks ago, she was back in New Bark Town and she's made it this far? ] I guess it's an unfair advantage knowing people who can use Fly and get you from place to place pretty quick. No complaints here though!

[ It might have been difficult to tell where she was had she not announced it. There's aluminium bleachers stacked up behind her and she's picked up a new shirt with longer sleeves. Not that she'll need it for much longer as spring is approaching, but it's nice to wear at a skating rink. ]

There's a couple people I know who have been here for a long time, like, long enough to actually grow here? What happens when they return to our world? Wouldn't someone back home notice the changes? [ Of course they would, everyone in Konoha has an astute memory and something being off physically is a red flag that something's up. A red flag that can't be ignored easily. ] It's a concern because a few of my comrades have returned home after living in this world long enough to change physically so I'm concerned about their fate.

Doesn't it change our future? Wouldn't I remember something since I'm ahead of them in the timeline?

This topic must come up a lot here when people get sent home, but I've wondered it myself since... well, I left? [ But she didn't return home. This is something she's not interested in making public information however, so she just frowns in favor of an explanation. ]

Oh, I think Naruto's finally got his skates on. Time to see what's so fun about sliding around on ice--but hey, will you leave me your answers? Just a little should be enough to give me peace of mind.

---

NOTE | Sakura will reply to all messages a few hours after she's done trying to distract her teammate~

Comments

[punches]

[ That was definitely long winded, but she's following along. Whatever 'system' there may be in place for this world doesn't seem to follow logic so applying it in the first place is foolish. ]

That's way it seems, I guess.

You sound experienced, you know, kind of as if you've gone through this a fair bit. Does it get any easier?

[islandshore]

It's kind of a mixed bag.

[He slumps, sweeping a hand through his bangs.]

Sometimes you luck out, and your friends stick with you for years. Other times, they disappear in the blink of an eye. Lose them enough times, and it wears you out. Reminds you that you're stuck in the same place, getting older while they're still the same.

[He's 19 now, and if Kairi showed up, he doubt she'd be much older than fifteen. Kinda a rough spot.]

[punches]

That's...

[ Horrible? Rough? Incredible? There's so many words to describe the overwhelming emotions that surge through her mind at the prospect. Here she's older than someone she's known since she was a child and will continue to age. Hard to believe that at the end of the month, she'll be eighteen. ]

Sorry, it must be hard to talk about it sometimes. I don't mean to pry if it makes you uncomfortable, I'm just really interested in the topic.

[islandshore]

[He waves one of his hands, brushing it off. It's not her fault, after all. Not like she knew what he's been through before.]

Nah, I get where you're coming from. And don't get me wrong, it is interesting. I just wish I didn't have to deal with it so much.

I mean, there's this girl I like, but if she ever pops up again, I'll be four, maybe even five years older. That... might give people the wrong idea.

[punches]

[ Giving a weak "Haa" at that. ] Tell me about it...

There was this boy I used to have a crush on--[ And it takes tremendous courage to say that much. ]--and it turns out he was here from a few years back. I'm turning eighteen soon so that would have been awkward if anyone brought it up.

Oh! Apparently my teacher was here too as a child--that's even weirder. How can my teacher be a kid? I'd have to teach him!

--Oh, but has it been that long since you've seen that girl?

[islandshore]

About a year now.

[He's been counting. Hoping, maybe, that she'd pop back up again...

But how would that even work now? With a growing age gap, is it even possible?]

Thing with Kairi is that she's been dragged her about a million times, but she's never stayed for long. Sora's pretty much the only constant I've got these days.

[punches]

That's... that's awful.

[ And for a brief moment she wonders if that's how Sasuke and Naruto felt when she left. ]

If I ever see her come here again, I'll cross my fingers for you. I know it's not much, but it's the thought that counts, yeah?

[islandshore]

True. But, honestly, I've kinda resigned myself to how things are now. If a nineteen year old guy tried getting with a girl who's fourteen or fifteen, they'd probably get the wrong idea.

[Alas. It's his and Sora's eternal dilemma, having both shared an interest in Kairi.]

Still, thanks.

[punches]

[ OT3s are tricky and painful, man. ]

Is it really that strange here? [ What are social norms. ]