Intertwining Regrets

In a secret research facility owned by the likes of Orochimaru, a pink-haired woman was typing on the keyboard in front of her with great dexterity of movement. Her eyes were glued to the screen.

It was a strange scene…

She didn't give even half a mind to the static shocks her seemingly malfunctioning headgear.

In fact, each energy fluctuation on her headgear seemed to make her even more excited...

*Boom!* An explosion went off behind her. She turned to see two people walking through a gap that was made on the reinforced metal walls. They were meant to keep both these 'friends' at bay.

"Sakura, stop this! You'll die if you experiment anymore! Haven't you seen the state you're in?" A voice filled with pain left the blonde-haired man wearing orange clothes, Uzumaki Naruto.

"Please, come back... Sakura!" It was only at this moment did the woman turn to meet his gaze.

Anyone else who saw her ugly and aged appearance that was warped by countless experiments wouldn't have recognised her. She was too different from how she was years ago.

However, how could Sasuke not recognise his own wife? With both his Indra Rinnegan and Sharingan deactivated, he walked up to her only to be coldly stopped by a gesture. He stopped in his tracks.

"Don't bother. I've already combined Kabuto's 'Yin Healing Wound Destruction', Teacher's 'Creation Rebirth', and Gai-sensei's 'Eight Inner Gates Formation' to… create my very own Ninjutsu.

The only thing I need to implement it is time.

After I've finished using Chakra Matrix to power of the Flying Thunder God- Time Distortion, I will have hope to see Sarada again... My child..." There was a hint of madness in her eyes as she glared the black-haired man.

"Don't ruin this chance for me." There was an indescribable sadness in her eyes as she spoke.

"Sakura, please... look at reality...! The Fifth Great Ninja War has ended. Sarada will never come back."

"Shut up! Don't give up on her!"

"Sakur-"

"Shut up! I regret getting married to an idiot like you! I would have been better off if I had been less stubborn! You... betrayed my trust after the Fourth Great Ninja War, and now you're doing it again!" Her emotions were in disorder —grabbing a kunai and pointed at her husband with great killing intent.

It was only after noticing that she seemed a little abnormally disturbed that Sasuke used his Dōjutsu to observe her. His heart quickly leaped out of his chest after finding her Chakra to be influenced.

"You used Genjutsu on yourself!"

"Shut up!" She repeated like a broken tape recorder.

"Please... think about this calmly. The Flying Thunder God Jutsu can only teleport a person to a Formula Mark. Dad even told us that it was more of a space jutsu rather than a space-time jutsu!"

"Shut up!! Why did you come here anyway? It's not like Boruto or Himawari died, only Sarada was killed in the war! It's all because you were weak... All of you didn't take care of her...! It's because of you!"

It was only after noticing the increasing pained look on Naruto's face did she realise her mistake.

Her eyes became much more cynical as she mocked herself inwardly for blaming him like this...

"No, you too weren't at fault. I was... I've always been the weakest member of our trio, needing to be protected by you even from Sasuke...!" She laughed in derision of her previous tantrum towards him.

"You know, I once made a promise after cutting off my hair a long time ago." She looked at Sasuke.

"I promised to grow strong enough to protect you both as well... I trained really hard under Teacher's tutelage and became much stronger... but it was only after the Fourth Great Ninja War did realise...

It wasn't that I lacked strength, but courage. When Naruto was fighting against Pain to save the entire village. All I could do was cower and call for help, while Hinata put her life on the line to save you.

I acted like a damsel, thinking that my Medical Ninjutsu and physical power was enough to be considered part of the team..." She said what was in her heart all this time, causing them to tear up.

"I won't give up this time!" Sakura spoke these words as her five senses started to fail her.

'I have to do this now...' She ignored her former teammates and turned to press a certain key.

After she did, a yellow current of electricity electrocuted her as she slowly lost consciousness.

Meanwhile, in another separate universe, another crazed person did similar experiments on himself.

The only difference was… 'intensity'.

Sitting in the middle of a field of awards for different areas of science, Bruce Banner sighed deeply. To him, this would be the last time he would be looking at the accomplishments of his lifetime.

"Bruce… What you really thinking?" Tony Stark, his best pal and intellectual companion, asked softly.

There was deep sadness in his eyes…

"If only things were different." The gamma radiation expert and genius of many expertise replied back.

"You mean about the Hulk?"

"No, Hulk is more pitiful than me. I've used him as my outlet for so long that I'd never considered that he never asked to be the way he is… just as I never asked to be born the way I was. A 'genius'…"

"But you've accomplished so much-"

"Do I need you to tell me that?!" Tony instinctively raised his 'armoured up' arm to him by reflex.

Only to see that Bruce was only acting…

Perhaps the melancholy of his existence snuffed out all the anger and rage he'd felt over the years.

"I-I'm sorry…!"

"No need. It's not only you who acts this way to me. The entire world sees me as a ticking time bomb even after I regained control of myself and subdued Hulk mentally. They see me as a monster."

"…"

"And so… I'm leaving." After hearing these heavy words, Tony watched Banner put on a helmet.

A special machine started to turn itself on.

Asgardian Lightning and Old Power was used to power a teleportation machine that'd take him to another world. This experiment was given the green light by S.H.I.E.L.D. almost immediately.

Getting Bruce out of their hair was good enough.

It'd be even better if he died from the experiment…

At least, that was what many who still feared The Hulk hoped while watching it happen from afar.

Tony couldn't stop anything from happening.

And just like that, electricity covered Banner's body before he was ejected from regular spacetime.

It was there he found another 'companion' for himself. Thus, beginning their new story.

In the new timeline of the Shinobi World, there was a great difference that would change everything.

That 'difference' being one particular person.

"Sorne, come down to eat!"

"Coming~!" A oak-haired boy shouted down from his room before quickly getting ready himself.

In the Haruno Family, twins were born rather than a daughter alone. Their names: Sakura and Sorne.

The bright and lively youth quickly ate breakfast before going out. He waved his sister goodbye.

"See ya!"

"Take care." Sakura waved back at him with the smile of an ordinary older sister, only to stop the moment the youth went out of site. She jumped on top of a building to watch the youth from afar.

After being reborn in the past, the girl had only been focusing on cultivating her own strength.

Her reason was simple: There was nothing she could do without taking appropriate precautions.

For example: She couldn't risk visiting the Uchiha Clan early, nor alerting Danzō by befriending Naruto. That's why she left her brother to do that for her. To her, he was a welcome help to her.

…Even if Sorne didn't realise it himself.

"Thank you." She heard a hallucination from her consciousness. The wild card in her Arsenal.

He was Bruce Banner. The man who ended up fusing into her when she turned back time.

"This was our deal. So don't thank me." She shook her head. Her heart remembering the past…

Rather than being born again, Bruce decided to give his chance at new life to his new 'Alter Ego'.

The childish Savage Hulk within him was stripped of his power, then given a chance to live as a human baby. Thus, allowing The Hulk to properly learn and become a suitable member of society.

At first, Bruce felt anxiety towards letting Hulk live an ordinary life. He knew things wouldn't be easy.

Even though he stripped the Savage Hulk of the rage he'd discarded from himself, that personality was still the type to grow pretty quickly. Although not a true 'genius', Hulk would definitely mature faster than a normal child his age mentally.

As someone who had experienced abuse from his intellect, he feared Hulk would be treated badly.

However, things turned out better than expected.

Sakura Haruno's parents were kind. Even after noticing Sorne's growing intelligence, they treated him just like any other child. Giving him the love and attention Bruce never had in his childhood.

Perhaps this was also thanks to Sakura's influence as someone who had a hard time acting as a 'child' after reincarnating into the past. Her acting that way made Sorne seem more 'normal' to them,

That was how things had played out…

When she stopped thinking about such irony, the pink-haired girl finally sat down to plan her future.

She lost a lot of her memories thanks to her brain having to age from that of an infant, but she managed to remember the people she'd known for many years. Now was the time for her to act.

Moreover, she had two new allies by her side.

Sorne may not know anything, but he was naturally a special child with enormous potential to grow.

Especially considering his ability…

"I'm curious… How strong is Sorne's chakra compared to others?" Bruce could help asking.

After reincarnation, the nature of 'his' ability changed drastically from what it was before.

It was the amalgamation of trauma and the ability to limitlessly increase Gamma Power that created The Hulk's signature ability. With the former being absent, Sorne developed a different ability.

He decided to name it 'Emerald Sunshine'.

Rather than it being an activation type ability, this power passively increased Sorne's Chakrw in ratio with his happiness. With time, Sorne could perhaps even become a sort of Tailed Beast independently.

In response to his question, Sakura herself didn't know the answer. Her 'brother' was too strong.

The boy had the Chakra Reserves of a Hokage already despite his age. He was too strong!

But that also made her curious of her own ability.

As twins, Sakura naturally inherited the Gamma Infused 'Emerald Chakra' matching her eyes.

The only difference was the type of ability she had.

Compared to Sorne's ability, her power more closely resembled The Hulk's in its nature.

The difference was her mentality…

The Hulk, as chaotic as he may be, was strong thanks him being able to use his intense anger to ignore the pain of 'Over Growth'. His anger blinded him to how Gamma Radiation was affecting him.

Sakura couldn't have that kind of mindset…

By activating her ability, Emerald Chakra would limitlessly increase. However, it would also bring unimaginable pain from overloading her cells to the point of death. She couldn't maintain it for long.

"It doesn't matter how strong we are. If nothing is changed, this world will be ruined." Bruce clicked his tongue at her avoiding a straight answer, but he let it go since he wasn't that bothered by it.

The former genius scientist was now just a bystander who watched the world from her eyes.

He was interested in Chakra, but not to the point of wanting to rush in order to build himself a body.

That was just his nature…

With their intertwining regrets, they hoped to make a brighter future that they could be at peace with.

The first step to that started now.