On the morning the Land of the Sea's collection ships were set to depart for the Land of Water, Team Anko (temporary name) assembled at the harbour for their escort mission.
Since Anko had not seen the mermaid/sea monster with her own eyes, she hadn't managed to recall her repressed memories (the ones about Orochimaru kidnapping the people of the Land of the Sea to use as guinea pigs), so she'd just casually shown up for work in the morning, after her disappearing act the previous day…
…instead of heading for the enemy's lair on Demon Island just south of Mother Island, like she would have in the original timeline.
"Where were you yesterday, Anko-sensei?" said Ino accusingly. "Sakura got badly hurt, and Naruto turned into some kind of monster! We needed you, but you were nowhere to be found!"
Since Sakura was rather flexible, it hadn't been especially difficult for her to contort her body into position so that she could perform the Mystical Palm Jutsu on herself and heal the severe burns on her back, so she was already good as new.
"I was following up on some leads," said Anko vaguely… and a few seconds later, she realised the full extent of what Ino had just told her. "Wait, did you just say monster? How many tails!?"
Anko inwardly groaned.
Why did the seal just have to fail on her watch? Once it was loosened, there was no tightening it back up! The Hokage was bound to blame her for this, especially since she hadn't even been there to help. She just hoped she wouldn't get demoted for this— if she got a pay cut, she wouldn't be able to afford as much of her comfort food, tricolour dango…
"Start from the beginning," said Anko, regaining a modicum of professionalism after a short internal scream. "What happened, exactly?"
Sakura gave her a quick rundown of the events that had occurred just after she'd left them.
"Mangekyō Sharingan?" said Anko doubtfully, when Sakura expressed her desire to abandon the mission because of the unexplained appearance of a hostile Uchiha survivor. "I've never heard of it."
It struck Anko as odd that Sakura seemed completely unfazed by the fact that her teammate, Naruto, had transformed into some kind of demonic being— she instead appeared far more preoccupied with the Uchiha youth she claimed to have fought.
Ino, on the other hand, looked visibly shaken. She kept casting terrified glances at Naruto every so often. As for Naruto, he was standing far away from the girls, wearing a complicated expression on his face.
The fact that the Nine-Tailed Fox was sealed within him was his most shameful secret, and even in the original timeline, he had never told any of his friends about his tenant, fearing they would reject him like his childhood playmates had.
"It's— ugh, how do I even explain this," Sakura said, rubbing her forehead in frustration. "The Mangekyō Sharingan is basically an evolved version of the regular Sharingan with even better enhanced visual acuity and insight, except it also has some extremely strange and dangerous abilities."
So far, Sakura had only seen Nanashi use the Amaterasu, the most dangerous of the Mangekyō abilities, in her opinion. At least with the Tsukuyomi, you could avoid looking into its caster's eyes, but how exactly were you supposed to stop the Amaterasu's caster from staring you to death?
But what was even more worrisome was that Sakura had no idea what ability might be sealed within Nanashi's other eye. If it was Kagutsuchi— the ability to control the Amaterasu's flames— then that would be fine, as it wasn't much more threatening than Amaterasu by itself. However, it might also be Tsukuyomi, Kamui, or even worse, some other undocumented ability!
"We're casting off in five minutes! Are you all set, shinobi from Konoha?"
Sakura peered over Anko-sensei's shoulder at the bald man waving from the deck of one of the collection ships. It was Hitode, the head of the guards hired by the Land of the Sea to protect their shipments.
"Last chance to drop out," said Anko, glancing at each of her three charges in turn. "Considering Naruto's… condition, and the Hidden Leaf's regulations concerning him, we wouldn't be faulted for abandoning the mission. So, what'll it be?"
Before today, Sakura had never truly understood why Senju Tobirama believed the Uchiha clan to be possessed by evil, but after experiencing such ominous chakra first-hand, she finally grasped why the Second Hokage held such convictions. She still shuddered at the memory of those scarlet eyes— and a phantom itch still lingered on her back, where the black flames had burned her.
And yet…
In that moment, Sakura couldn't help but remember Japanese Spider-Man-sensei's words:
I am an emissary from hell— Spider-Man!
Wait, no, not that line.
With great power comes great responsibility!
If she gave up on this mission, she wouldn't be breaking any of Konoha's rules or abandoning any friends, so she would be fine by Kakashi-sensei's standards. But what would happen to all the beautiful female divers living on these islands if she just ran away? Who would protect them, and their clams?
"I suppose these people wouldn't last two minutes on the water without us," Sakura sighed. "And unless they pay their protection money, Kirigakure will burn their islands to the ground… so, I guess we'll just have to stay and fight."
'Nothing ventured, nothing gained!' shouted Inner Sakura, throwing punches at the air. 'Mummy needs a new pair of eyes! Oh yeah!'
Upon hearing a clattering sound, Sakura looked down.
Unconsciously, her left hand— which she had rested on the pommel of her sword— had begun shaking, causing her blade to rattle within its scabbard. Sakura placed her right hand over her left to still its trembling. Her hand wasn't shivering from fear, she realised, but rather from anticipation!
Sakura, and the Manyuu blade by extension, were itching to reap the breast chakra of an extinct clan…
Ding-ding-ding!
"Then it's decided," said Anko, upon hearing the collection ships' bells. "The mission continues!"
"We're casting off!" shouted Hitode. "Come on up, Konoha shinobi!"
The sea monster capture mission… begins now!