Time Loop

"Maybe I'm just dreaming," she found herself muttering, this time with a sense of resignation and acceptance of the absurdity. "Yes, that's it. It's just some weird dream."

Yet still, there was a nagging certainty inside her.

They once more infiltrated the village, replicating actions exactly as before. However, this time as she approached the warehouse, she considered whether or not she should just take them out herself.

"No, I'll call for Kakashi," she finally decided.

He arrived once again, and as he prepared to inquire about the plan, she gave a quick answer: "They're easy to deal with, so let's catch them by surprise and take them out one at a time."

"You sound like you've fought them before," he intoned.

"Something like that…"

Though he looked at her incredulously, he agreed nonetheless with the battle plan, and the two sprang into action.

"I'm getting hungry," Ryūgan said inside after taking a few steps away from the group. "I'll be right back."

Just as he began to walk away, Jada seized the moment with a deadly technique: "Chidori!"

Immediately, she struck Ryūgan right in the heart, killing him instantly.

"Ryūgan!" Kujaku cried out, seeing her teammate fall.

Jada didn't even bother with the theatrics this time. Two of her clones rushed in with two different techniques.

"Fire style: fire ball jutsu!"

"Water style: shark bomb jutsu!"

Instead of Kujaku performing the Tempest Wind technique, she opted for the "Wind Slash" technique, swiping her blades to create multiple blades of wind projectiles.

Yet this did little to counteract the flames, boosting their power instead. Fire erupted around her, followed by the crushing wave of water that surged forward. In just two moves, she was out for the count.

Kakashi would soon appear and swiftly dealt with Suiko, leaving only Hōki as the last obstacle once again.

"No way!" Hōki recoiled in disbelief. "How did—"

"This happen?" Jada finished his sentence, knowing what he would say.

Together, Kakashi and her executed the Double Primary Lotus, catching Hōki completely by surprise and sending him crashing hard to the ground.

As the dust settled, Hōki lay defeated.

Kakashi lowered his headband and smiled at Jada to say, "You executed that technique perfectly."

"Right," she said, unable to smile back. "Thank you. You did great, too, Kakahi-sensei."

"Seriously, Jada… I was expecting more of a challenge from them, but your plan to take them down was flawless."

The celebratory that followed the battle seemed somewhat distorted this time. The villagers' grateful cheers faded at the edges of her consciousness, despite the buoyant spirits around her.

And even as Jada played her role optimally, she knew something was terribly wrong.

"Kakashi-sensei," she said. "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

Kakashi smiled and blushed, scratching his head. He tried to reject her, but she insisted, saying, "Just for tonight, okay?! I'm not feeling well, and I'd like to make sure you're close if something happens, alright?!"

Inside their room, Kakashi set down his book and turned to Jada to say, "You did an excellent job today, but I'd like to know what's bothering you."

Leave it to the future sixth Hokage to know something was wrong.

Jada hesitated, tracing the seams of her futon with her fingers before she asked, "Have you ever lived the same day three times before?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, caught off guard. "Well, being a ninja often makes it feel like the days are repeating. It's all part of the job."

"That's not what I mean," she replied, shaking her head. "The only reason I was able to perform so well today… is because I've lived this day three times already."

Those words were alien to him, so he stared at her in surprise, trying to understand.

"You're serious?" he asked, both intrigued and concerned at her statement.

She nodded, allowing him to take a moment and process what she had shared.

"Is that why you wanted to sleep here tonight?" he wondered.

"Yeah… Sorry if I sound crazy. I'll definitely go to the hospital when we get back to the Leaf.

This put a smile on his face. He then offered a reassuring smile, attempting to ease her burden while saying, "Regardless of how it happened, the day's over now. You don't have to worry about it anymore."

Jada's eyes softened at his support. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei. It just feels nice to be able to talk about it."

Kakashi then stretched on his futon as they both settled onto their respective beds.

"You get a good night's rest now," he said, turning around.

"Good night, Kakashi-sensei."

"Good night, Jada…"

The moment she fell asleep, the light flashed in her eyes, and she once again appeared outside of Takumi Village.

Jada instinctively placed a hand on her head, a gesture that had become all too familiar. Kakashi, standing beside her, looked at her with concern as mirrored in their previous encounters, "Is everything alright?"

She wasn't alright; she was now angry. Something inside her clicked. No more confusion, no more brush-offs. She was certain now.

"Kakashi-sensei," she started in a steady voice. "I'm not having déjà vu or daydreaming. I'm in a time loop."

That proclamation was more than confusing, yet he regarded her with curiosity. "A time loop? Are you sure? Because that sounds a bit far-fetched."

She relaxed before summoning the conviction she had felt in her gut.

"This is my fourth loop," she declared. "I've been through this day before—thrice. I know exactly what happens, and I need to figure out how to break out of it."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, not dismissing her claim outright but trying to make sense of her words. Truth be told, she was taking this a little more maturely than most would have.

"How about I examine your head right now?" he suggested half-jokingly. "Just to be safe."

Momentarily thrown off by the idea, she stammered, "Uh, no—sorry! I mean, I don't think that's necessary." She then waved her hands defensively, having forgotten how the time loop mechanics work. "I'm fine! Don't listen to me!"

"Are you sure?" Kakashi pressed with one eyebrow raised in skepticism.

"Yes! Seriously, I'm fine! Sorry! I just… we don't have time to waste, Kakashi-sensei!"

They walked in silence for a moment. Once they reached the village, they parted ways, agreeing to try and locate their targets.

Her thoughts spiraled into overdrive. Time loops? She had heard so much about them, both in stories and movies. The idea of experiencing the same day repeatedly was fascinating but also terrifying.

"How can this be happening?" she pondered aloud with her brows knit together in concentration. "How can loops happen in video games? I feel like I'm in one of those stupid movies where the character can't escape. What was it called again? Groundhog something."

She recalled snippets of dialogue from various films she had watched—one particularly stood out: "Time loops originate from hell, doomed to replay their failures and suffer eternally."

She shuddered at the concept. She just didn't understand the mechanics at play.

"What if… what if this is a quest." Then she shook head. "Or what if Jasper's Time Travel jutsu causes a glitch in the game? And if that's the case, how long will I be trapped for?"

The thought filled her with dread.

There was no way she was going to live out a scenario similar to Groundhog Day. The protagonist of that movie endured over twelve thousand days in his loop—which was approximately thirty-four years!

Jada could hardly consider spending even another hour in this cycle, let alone over three decades.

"Okay, okay," she said to herself, shaking her head as if to clear it. "Think. You need a plan."

First, she focused on her Flying raijin marks scattered across the world. She closed her eyes, trying to feel out the chakra pathways that connected her to those marks.

'This has to work,' she thought. But nothing happened. She opened her eyes in confusion. 'Why can't I teleport?!'

She took a deep breath and concentrated harder. Yet the more she tried, the more she was met with what seemed to be an impenetrable void.

"This doesn't make sense!" she exclaimed.

Rather than drain herself of her chakra, she decided on something new: she activated her Mangekyō Sharingan, causing the crimson patterns to swirl in her eyes.

"If I can't teleport to them," she resolved, "then I'll bring them to me."

Rummaging through her bag, she pulled out a small sheet of paper and began writing out the names of her friends: 'William... Alice... Margaret... Jasper... Alexander….'

But even as the last name formed, she felt a wrenching emptiness. She stood frozen, enveloped by what she had hoped would be the comforting embrace of her allies—no one came.

Now she felt her chest tighten.

"Come on, this can't be happening!" she shouted.

She plunged into her pouch for a scroll. If she couldn't teleport to them and she couldn't teleport them to her, perhaps she could reach out directly.

She unrolled the scroll and grasped her brush as she activated the Scroll Communication technique. Hastily, she wrote out her message to Itachi, hoping that he would receive it.

'I'm trapped in a time loop at Takumi Village. I need your help immediately. Please contact someone if you get this message!'

The silence that followed felt deafening. She watched the scroll despite herself, sighing deeply when nothing materialized to indicate a response.

"Why isn't that working either?" she murmured

Time loops were extremely tedious to deal with. Little did she know, no form of communication could be mustered when one was trapped inside one.

With frustration mounting, she rolled up the scroll and shoved it back into her pouch.

"I have to get out of here!" she cried, sprinting out of the confines of the village.

Ignoring the mission for now, she reached the outskirts, where the trees parted and a wide expanse of open land lay before her.

"Let's see if I can—" she began, but before she could complete her thought, there was a blinding flash, and she found herself back at the entrance of Takumi Village once more!

"Are you alright?" Kakashi's voice cut through her confusion.

She blinked at him as though awakening from a daze. All she saw was the confusion in his eyes.

"No..." she whispered in dread.

Trying to run outside had looped her back to the moment she had hoped to escape.

Kakashi regarded her with a tilt of his head, repeating the phrases like before. "If you have a headache, we can get that looked at once we return to the Leaf."

Jada clenched her fists and mistakenly yelled, "No! I'm not okay!" Then she paused upon noticing she was acting deranged. "I'm just stuck in a time loop…"

Kakashi moved closer, feeling concerned for her mental health and a tad curious about what she meant. "Care to explain?"

She looked at him, thinking carefully of what to say.

"Kakashi-sensei," she began, "I need you to understand that this world you live in—the world of shinobi… It's all part of a virtual reality. It doesn't really exist."

Kakashi blinked at her, processing her words with an expression somewhere between disbelief and intrigue.

"A virtual world?" he asked. "You mean like a game?"

"Yes!" Jada replied, unable to contain the intensity of her emotion. "Everything you and I have experienced is all pre-scripted and part of a story. You, Naruto, Sakura, and everyone else—it's all been created for entertainment. You—Kakashi, in your actuality—are a fictional character."

After a moment's silence, Kakashi spoke up in a calm voice, saying, "I suggest we cancel the mission and return to the village. For your mental health, that is?"