A/N: This story marks the beginning of Sakura Week 2018! Today is Day 1: Iron Will of Determination.
Sakura had always been fascinated with the stars.
Ever since she was a young girl, sitting on her mother's lap as they gazed up at the galaxies together, she had been enraptured by the night sky. The stars reminded her of the stories her mother would weave. Stories about how the great tree they protected had fallen from the sky. The legend of the first matriarch of the Haruno family and how she had dedicated her life to protecting the mythical symbol. Tales of the first Haruno warriors and how their clan had come to settle themselves at the roots of the great tree.
They reminded her of soft memories of her deceased mother, of being a child playing under a blanket of twinkling lights, of a life of ease before the weight of the clan and the war that always surrounded them fell upon her shoulders.
The stars reminded Sakura of happier, gentler times.
The Haruno matriarch was able to push away concerns of the village of women that she lead who protected the Great Tree whose highest branches seemed to brush against the swath of light high above her. It was during these brief times that she was able to have a reprieve. A short break in her life where she could let everything go and enjoy the beauty of the night sky.
And tonight was one such night.
Sakura laid out upon the grass behind her home, gazing up at the stars above. Her hands were folded beneath her head, her geta tossed a short distance away so she could feel the softness of the grass between her toes. The music of spring played all around her, the toads, crickets, and owls singing their soothing songs just for her. The gentle sound of the shishi-odoshi near her koi pond periodically broke the quiet nighttime melody with the clinking of bamboo hitting stone.
A small smile pulled at her lips, her eyes alight as she watched the flickering stars drift across the sky with the turning of the earth beneath her.
A flash of light caught her attention and she watched, curious, as a meteor shot across the sky. She cherished moments such as these when she was treated to the rare sight of meteors and fireballs, feeling as if it was a present to her from the heavens themselves. A reaffirmation of her duty as protector of the child of the stars: the Great Tree.
When the meteor didn't vanish as it normally would, the flashes of light always brief yet stunning, Sakura's eyebrows furrowed. Her sense of wonder was quickly replaced with alertness. She watched, fascinated, as the meteor slowly grew closer and larger, her heart rate increasing with her excitement until it was racing in her chest.
She shot up into a sitting position, her eyes fixated on the object falling from the sky, as it made its descent. Or, rather, as it drifted across the sky as if of its own accord.
The object glowed with a bright, shining light and drew in the entirety of Sakura's attention like a moth to a flame. She jolted to her feet as she watched the glowing object travel across the night sky directly above her. She could feel the energy coursing through her as her legs begged her to go, to sate her curiosity and follow the mysterious light.
She could hear as the women of her village began to stir, the sounds of alarm easy to read in the distant voices of her night time guard. It wasn't long before the familiar voice of one of her warriors, the captain of her guard, sounded from the engawa of her home.
"Lady Sakura! What is that!? Do you see it!?" Uzume yelled, her sharp eyes shooting between Sakura and the traveling light above them.
"I see it. Uzume, double the guards on the perimeter and station archers in all of the lookouts. The others in the valley are sure to have seen and may use the chaos as an opportunity to attack," Sakura commanded, slipping on her geta without ever taking her eyes off of the object, "Gather Ame and meet me at the front gate immediately! And bring me my sword!"
"At once, Lady Sakura!" the blonde woman declared, already rushing back into the village to enact the Haruno Matriarch's orders.
Sakura ran through the village towards the front gates, never taking her eyes off of the glowing object still perched high in the sky. It looked so extraordinary, so mysterious and so not of this world. Even if she hadn't been set on tracking it, she wouldn't have been able to look away from it.
When the matriarch stopped at the threshold of the front gates, she still could not tear her eyes away from the ball of light. The crew of women who controlled the gate swung open the tall wooden barrier, the iron hinges creaking loudly under the weight of the beams as it was forced open.
It wasn't a moment later that her warriors Uzume and Ame were at her side. Ame appeared, as silent as a wraith. Her expression was set in stone and her long black hair was a curtain which was pulled back in preparation for the possible battle.
Uzume strode up to Sakura, her footsteps thunderous in comparison to Ame's ghostly footfalls. The blonde held the Haruno matriarch's katana in hand and passed the blade to her leader as she stopped next to her.
"Let us go," Sakura declared as she secured her katana to her side, using the obi of her kimono to strap her weapon to her person.
When she took off running down the road leading out of her village, Ame and Uzume were right beside her.
Sakura didn't dare take her eyes off of the glowing object as her and her warriors chased after it. As they ran, she was worried that the object wouldn't land at all but would rather continue on it's path through the sky without them. When she watched as it instead halted in the sky and began it's slow descent straight towards the ground, she felt her heart race from excitement.
They were able to follow the river that ran through their village and out into the wilderness directly to where the object had landed. As they rounded a bend in the river, hugging the water's edge, they came across the mysterious body of light.
Sakura stopped dead in her tracks, Uzume and Ame pausing at her side, as she stared at the object. Within the forest's edge, where the trees met the water, was a perfectly spherical orb of light. It looked to her as if the sun itself had set in the forest in front of her and she found herself fascinated by the bizarre, unexplainable phenomenon.
"Be careful," Sakura declared, the two women at her side nodding in agreement as they slowly approached the light, their hands on the hilts of the weapons.
As they drew closer to the forest's edge, the Haruno matriarch watched as the blinding light dimmed until it was just a small blue glow. Her eyes remained fixated on the object and she became all the more entranced when she watched as it began to move.
They continued to draw closer, Sakura squinting against the brightness to try to make out what was within the glow. It was as the light finally began to die away that she realized that it was a woman walking through the trees and glowing like the very stars above her head.
Sakura came to a stop, her feet suddenly overwhelmingly heavy, as the woman in light approached her and her warriors. The blue glow that surrounded her slowly dissipated until she was faced with a woman with snow white hair down to her knees and lavender eyes that shone like the stars. Her pale eyebrows were cut like the noblewoman of the neighboring countries and her lips were painted a shade of red as deep as the brightest rose in her garden.
Sakura had never seen anyone so ephemeral, so mythical... so beautiful.
As the strange woman approached the Haruno and her group, Uzume and Ame both took a step back and moved to draw their weapons. Sakura gathered herself enough to hold out a staying hand, commanding them to remain calm, as the stranger finally came to stand before them.
As the white haired woman stared into Sakura's eyes, she felt as if she was staring directly into her very heart. Sakura struggled to find her voice, pinned by the otherworldly eyes of the woman. She had never met someone such as this stranger and she floundered as she searched for the right words.
"Did you come from the stars?" she finally gasped, speaking the most important question on her mind.
"I did," the woman replied, her voice the sweetest song Sakura had ever heard.
"What's your name?" she asked, her viridian eyes fixated on the vision of goddess-like beauty before her.
"My name is Kaguya," the stranger answered, "I am the one who protects the divine tree."
'Kaguya...'
It was the sound of Uzume's voice that finally brought with it the return of Sakura's senses.
"The divine tree?" the blonde questioned, her expression twisted in confusion.
Sakura's eyebrows furrowed before she spoke, "Several millennia ago, a tree appeared out of nowhere and grew into a massive tree before the very eyes of the first matriarch of the Haruno clan. She dedicated my family to guarding this life giving tree and it is this duty that has been bestowed upon me... Is this the tree you speak of?"
"You have protected my tree before me?" Kaguya asked, a curious tone in her voice.
"I have. Me, my mother, my mother's mother, and onward to the First Haruno. Ever since the Great Tree took root all those years ago, my family has dedicated ourselves to its protection," Sakura explained, Uzume and Ame slowly relaxing at her sides, their hands relaxing but not retreating from their weapons.
"Why do such a thing?" the mysterious woman asked with the slightest tilt of her head.
"Because it is not of our world. It is special, magical, it feeds the earth and sustains us all. It needs to be protected."
Kaguya watched on silently, her carefully controlled expression somehow curious to Sakura's eyes.
"I believe that it is much like yourself, lady of the stars. I believe that it is meant for you. That my family has been waiting for you. That I have been waiting for you…" Sakura began before she carefully asked, "Will you come with me back to my village?"
"Lady Sakura, is this the best course of action?" Ame whispered at her side, Sakura tilting her head to regard her but refusing to take her eyes off of the beautiful woman before her.
"Trust me, Ame," she whispered in return, the dark haired woman grimacing but saying no more.
"I shall come with you. Lead the way, guardian," Kaguya answered, her voice powerful and regal.
Ever since that magical night, Kaguya had stayed with Sakura in her village.
The Haruno matriarch had insured that their guest from the stars would be treated well, even going as far as to assign one of her most trusted handmaidens, Hoshi, to tend to their honored guest. She provided Kaguya with a home of her own and access to any amenity she required before it was ever asked.
Although Kaguya had yet to ask for anything, let alone speak to much of anyone. She remained an enigma, a quiet ghost of a woman who spent her days secluded away from the others but her nights gazing up at the night time sky.
For the first few nights that Kaguya stayed with the Haruno clan, Sakura watched her curiously. Although it seemed that, even with the appearance of their mysterious guest from the stars, Sakura still could find little to no time to properly entertain or speak with her.
It wasn't until the third day of Kaguya's stay that Sakura finally got the opportunity to visit with her honored guest. Instead of using the time to lie back in the soft grass behind her home to gaze at the sky herself, Sakura wanted to speak with the woman of the stars.
When she approached her, it was with a blanket in one hand and her heart in the other.
The spring days were warm but still held the hint of winter during the night. She worried that Kaguya would catch a sickness staying outside all night long, perched on that bridge that crossed over one of the branches of the river that spanned the Haruno village.
When Sakura approached her, she gently settled the blanket she had brought over the shoulders of her guest.
"You must be so cold, standing out here like this," she greeted warmly, a welcoming smile spread across her lips as she settled beside her.
Her heart skipped a beat in her chest when Kaguya turned to focus those beautiful opal eyes upon her. Sakura's greeting smile fading into an expression of awe before she tore her eyes away to look up to the expanse of lights above them.
They stood in silence for a long moment, the only sound being Kaguya's hands sliding free from the sleeves of her kimono to grasp the edges of her gifted blanket and pull them closer around her.
As Sakura gazed up at the stars, she could feel her heart grow lighter and her mind clear. She felt as if her mother, her grandmother, and all of the Haruno matriarchs before her were looking down upon her with smiles on their faces. She felt as if they were proud of what she had done, what she had accomplished.
A soft smile graced Sakura's face once again.
"The stars hold a great deal of meaning to me. I feel as if they connect me with the ones I love. My mother, my grandmother, and all the Haruno women of my clan. I am able to put aside my worries of the future, and my concerns of the present, when I look upon the stars because I know I will always have the love of my family," Sakura explained, her soft smile remaining stretched across her lips as she basked in the glow of the night sky.
"But, the stars are also so incredibly mysterious. We don't know what they are or where they come from, only that they are so incredibly beautiful..." Sakura's eyes finally parted from the stars to look to Kaguya, her thoughts remaining silent but the connotation as loud as if they had been spoken.
'Much like you.'
Kaguya watched her curiously, a silent enigma. Sakura cleared her throat, feeling as her cheeks heated under the scrutiny of the woman from the stars.
"I always see you out here, looking up at the stars…" she began softly, her eyebrows furrowing before she asked, "Are you… waiting for someone?"
Sakura could feel as a spark of jealousy shined within her, some part of her thinking that Kaguya must be waiting for a lover. She shook off the feeling as quickly as it came, knowing it didn't matter if she was or not. Kaguya was her honored guest and was under her protection now. Whatever happened, both the Great Tree and the woman of the stars would be safe.
"Well, from now on, whenever you're lonely and you're looking up at the stars… I'll be here with you," Sakura stated, earning a startled look from Kaguya, her red painted lips parting in surprise.
They stood together, watching as the stars drifted across the sky. Despite the silence between them dragging on, the quiet was a comfortable one. As the matriarch watched as a shooting star arced across the sky, the flash of light brilliant yet fleeting, a curious question formed within her.
"Is there anything you would wish for, Lady Kaguya?" the Haruno asked curiously, breaking the silence.
"What I wish..." Kaguya paused, her eyebrows furrowing as her eyes lingered on the place in the sky where the shooting star had vanished, "Is for peace with no more fighting."
"Peace..." Sakura whispered in return, a smile pulling at the edges of her lips.
Kaguya was fascinated by the strange pink haired woman who had defended the Divine Tree before her arrival in this world.
She appeared to be so delicate but, beneath her carefully embroidered kimono was the heart of a leader and a warrior. More than that, Kaguya was shocked by her kindness. Sakura had only met her a handful of stars ago and the unusual woman showed her a kindness that even her own family had never afforded her.
Kaguya still kept the blanket that Sakura had given her, using it as a shawl to keep warm as she gazed up at the stars at night. As she watched and waited for her family to finally appear so they could harvest the fruit of the Divine Tree and use the chakra to prolong their lives.
She knew that they would come one day, that they would drain this planet dry as they had all the others but, as she watched Sakura lead her family... As she watched as this clan of women were trained as warriors and leaders, so unlike what she was accustomed to in her own family...
She began to reconsider.
Kaguya found herself drawn to Sakura, the pink haired matriarch an enigma of her own. Despite her kindness and her open personality, there was so much about her that Kaguya didn't understand. So much that she wanted to learn about the beautiful woman who had defended her tree before her arrival.
So, following her first week under Sakura's 'protection', Kaguya began to spend her days investigating the Haruno matriarch.
One afternoon, she approached Sakura's lodgings, rounding her engawa to the side of her home to where she could hear two voices chatting.
"Here you are, Aino. The next batch will be done by the weeks end if you require more," Sakura's voice sounded from behind a shoji door propped halfway open to allow sunlight and fresh air into her work space.
"Thank you so much, Lady Sakura. I really appreciate your help. This war is getting so bad that I worry I may need to come again for more of your medical supplies soon enough..." the unfamiliar voice of a woman replied from within.
"You know that you always have a home here should you decide to take it."
"Thank you, I... I just can't leave them all. Not now at least."
Kaguya lingered outside of the shoji door, not barging in on the women but rather waiting patiently. She wasn't completely familiar with the customs of these people but she was observant enough to know that interrupting their meeting could be considered quite rude.
"My offer always stands. I hope to see you again soon, alive and well," Sakura replied, her tone jovial but her meaning very clear.
"I hope so as well. I'll see you soon," Aino replied, the sound of the shoji door opening greeting Kaguya's ears.
Kaguya turned to regard the stranger, Aino, and the woman started upon seeing her. She shook herself, as if to rid herself of her surprise, before smiling warmly at her. Kaguya found herself surprised by how friendly she was, watching curiously as the brunette adjusted the travel pack on her shoulders and resumed her path out of the Haruno village.
When Kaguya entered Sakura's work area, tucked away in the matriarch's own home, she was once again greeted with a warm and welcoming smile. This one paired with a cute blush that Kaguya couldn't help but find endearing.
"Ah, Lady Kaguya. I'm glad to see you. Please, join me. I'm simply working on some medicines at the moment," Sakura greeted, gesturing towards a zabuton laid out on the floor near her.
As Kaguya sat down upon the cushion, she watched as Sakura worked at an impressive alchemy station, grinding and manipulating various herbs to add to the neat piles of potions and poultices before her.
"I'm sure you've heard of this from the others, but a war is growing all around us. The men of this world find it in them to bicker and battle over every stretch of land they lay their eyes upon and I fear that they will set their eyes upon my lands as well," Sakura explained, accustomed to Kaguya's silence, as she meticulously ground an herb into a find powder.
"We are lucky in that we live in the crater of the Great Tree, being that it provides with us water and fertile grounds, but we are unlucky in that it is such a difficult area to defend. I'm certain that we will find ourselves playing a part in this war and I worry for the people under my care..." she admitted, sighing deeply before brushing the fine powder she had made into a glass jar labeled in a language Kaguya didn't understand.
"I worry but..." she looked away from her work to gaze meaningfully into Kaguya's eyes, "I will do whatever it take to protect those I love."
'Love...'
Kaguya watched as Sakura's cheeks heated up in the cute pink that nearly matched her hair before she looked away. The Haruno matriarch brushed her bangs out of her face with a nervous laugh, Kaguya frowning as she felt an odd tugging in her chest.
"Well, that's enough talk about such dark tidings," Sakura laughed off as she stood from her place at her workstation, putting a cork into her newly filled bottle and placing it in an empty spot on her shelves, "Perhaps you would be partial to joining me for lunch? I heard from Ame that the strawberries have finally ripened and we will be able to spoil ourselves once more."
"Strawberries?" Kaguya asked curiously, watching as Sakura's face betrayed her surprise at hearing her speak.
"Yes, they are very sweet and quite delicious. Perhaps you'll like them. Will you come with me?" Sakura asked with a smile stretched across her face, holding out her hand for Kaguya to take.
Kaguya looked at her outstretched hand for a long moment, torn, before she reached out to grasp it. When their fingers touched, she marveled at how soft and warm Sakura felt.
The sound of battle was a sound that was not unknown to the Haruno clan matriarch. The sharp clatter of metal on metal, the cries of pain, and the pounding of booted footsteps was a war song which Sakura was quite familiar with.
Hearing it singing around her within her own village, however, was a sound she had never heard.
Her squadron of warriors valiantly battled around her, desperately attempting to force back the invaders from the Land of Ka while simultaneously protecting the women of the village who did not fight. Sakura herself had been thrown into the melee, the surprise attack having come in the dead of night.
Her katana was already stained with the blood of her fallen foes, her blade glistening red in the light of the stars above them and the glow of the lanterns and torches around them. Even as she fought, dragging breath into her lungs and forcing her muscles to move faster and swing harder, her mind ran a million miles a second.
Why were these men here? Why had they come? They had kept her village out of their wars for decades, why had they come to invade now?
Was it the land? Was it their water source? Was it-
Sakura's thoughts were cut off by the sound of screaming in the distance. She recognized that voice... It was Hoshi, the woman Sakura had assigned to Kaguya as her handmaiden.
Sakura gracefully parried a downward slash from her current foe, a move which opened up his middle. She shot out her foot, kicking him in the stomach and stunning him for just the second she needed to plant her sword in his abdomen. She pushed through the feeling of resistance as she buried her blade in his stomach, levering her foot against his chest to wrench her weapon free from his body. He felt to the ground, uselessly clutching at his mortal wound as he began to bleed out.
Whirling around without a second thought, she sprinted towards where Hoshi's screams had come from. Where Kaguya's home resided.
The whizzing sound of arrows hitting the ground around her feet echoed in her mind but not nearly as loud as the battle cries of her warriors as they marched forward to fight back their invaders.
Sakura leapt onto the engawa which bordered the outside of her guest's home, rushing around the bend until she found Kaguya and Hoshi surrounded by a crowd of armed men.
Sakura stopped in front of Kaguya and Hoshi, falling into a familiar battle stance, her bloodied sword held high and her face the picture of ferocity.
"How dare you come to my village, attack my people!? You will abandon this foolish assault and leave my village at once! Then perhaps I will consider allowing you to leave with your lives!" the Haruno matriarch roared.
"As if you could stop us, pretty girl! What belongs to you will soon belong to the Land of Ka! Including the woman!" one of the men scoffed.
"And the rumors were right, such a beauty. And so refined. From this moment on, you are mine!" another declared, a lecherous smirk spread across his lips.
"Lady Kaguya, Hoshi! Please run!" Sakura pleaded, tightening her grip on her katana as she prepared to face this group of men by herself.
Kaguya and all of those who called her village home were under Sakura's protection. She would die before she allowed any harm to come to them.
Sakura was surprised, however, when Kaguya instead brushed passed her, descending the stairs towards the invaders.
"Kaguya," she gasped, watching as the woman approached their attackers with no fear.
Was she intending on giving herself to these invaders to protect the others in her village?
Sakura wouldn't allow it. Her hands tightened around her blade as she stepped down after Kaguya.
"Even in this situation, you're not scared. Well, that just makes me like you more! Take her!" the man, apparently the leader of the group of attackers from Ka, commanded as Sakura began her lunge to strike down those who would attack her guest.
Before the men's hands could even touch the silk of her kimono, Kaguya's eyes widened. A burst of power, so unlike anything Sakura had ever felt, exploded from her, sending her would be attackers flying. The men were blown back, thrown a dozen feet in the air, before they landed on the ground, limp and unconscious.
Sakura's lips parted in shock, her feet suddenly rooted to the ground as she tried to comprehend the power she had just witnessed.
"Do not touch me," Kaguya commanded, still the picture of regality as she faced down the small army of men.
Several of the invaders skirted backwards in surprise and fear before the commander growled, "Don't back down!"
When the men came at Kaguya next, instead of being blown back, they exploded in a blast of gore. Blood and viscera rained down upon the battlefield, splattering the invaders in the still hot fluids of their comrades.
Hoshi screamed in terror, falling backwards against the wood and pressing her back to the wall of Kaguya's home. The man who lead the attackers stood, mouth agape and eyes wide in shock, as he stared down at the mangled corpses at Kaguya's feet.
Sakura's own mouth popped open but not a sound passed from her lips in her shock. She felt as if she should have been frightened. As if she should have been scared of Kaguya's strange, inhuman powers. But instead, she felt relief. Instead... she was amazed.
"So the bewitching beauty is actually a monster..." the man whimpered, taking one step backwards and then another.
When he turned around and began to run back into the forest, the men who remained alive went with him. It was only once the final traces of the last invader were gone that Sakura finally regained her senses.
"Kaguya!" she gasped, fumbling to return her katana to its sheath as she rushed down the stairs.
Her feet splashed in the pools of blood surrounding Kaguya as she rounded the woman to see her face.
"Kaguya, are you hurt?" Sakura asked desperately, her eyes raking across Kaguya's form to see if there were any wounds from the attackers. Her hands hovered over where her eyes roamed as she searched.
When Sakura finally reached Kaguya's face, she spotted a droplet of blood smeared across her pale cheek. Her hands finally touched her as she reached out to cradle her face, her thumb tenderly brushing away the droplet of blood to see if a wound was beneath it.
"Are you okay?" she asked, finally looking up to gaze into her opal eyes.
For the first time, Kaguya smiled at her.
Her hands drifted upwards to settle over hers, her fingertips warm against her blood stained hands.
"I am unharmed."
Sakura smiled widely, releasing the breath she had been holding in relief. She gently dropped her forehead against Kaguya's, her eyes sliding shut as she pressed herself against her.
"Thank the gods," she whispered, her fingers tightening around Kaguya's as relief flooded her system, "I was so worried..."
When her eyes slid open once again, she found herself gazing into Kaguya's opal orbs. She could feel a blush race across her face, one that matched the pink that dusted across Kaguya's own pale cheeks. It was then that she realized how close they both were, nearly embracing and their lips just inches apart.
"Kaguya..." Sakura whispered, gazing into Kaguya's eyes with the same enchantment as if she were gazing up at the stars.
She wasn't sure if it was her or Kaguya who had leaned in closer but she knew that it was her who was holding Kaguya's hands so tightly. She could feel as her heart sung in her chest, her eyes sliding shut once again as their lips drew slowly closer.
It was when their lips were just a breath apart, when she was just a heartbeat away from finally feeling Kaguya's lips against her own, that Uzume's roar broke the spell they had been under.
"Lady Sakura! They're retreating! We must give chase to prevent this scum from ever knowing a moment of peace again!"
Sakura paused in her descent towards Kaguya's lips, her expression contorting as she fought between her desire to finally feel the lips of the woman she loved and take revenge for the women who had been slaughtered in cold blood that night.
It was Sakura's duty to her village that finally pulled her away.
She gave Kaguya once final smile, a look that promised more in the future, as she gently dragged her fingertips down her soft cheeks.
"I'll return," the Haruno matriarch promised before pulling away from Kaguya and running to meet with Uzume in their pursuit of the retreating invaders.
Sakura had thought that their victory would afford them more than a day of peace. Instead, the attack that followed their win at the hands of the Land of Ka's ambush took place not even a day later.
When the sun set the following night, shortly after Sakura and her guard had finally awaken from their slumber to recover from the battle the day previous, the Land of Ka attacked. And with a much greater number of warriors than the day before.
They wanted revenge. They wanted the Haruno lands. They wanted Kaguya. And Sakura would not let them have anything.
When the army from the Land of Ka approached, their torches a bright light which lit up the road leading to her village, Sakura was prepared to fight to the death. It was Kaguya that pulled her away from the battle, instead urging her towards the Great Tree which stood in the center of the Haruno village.
When Sakura tried to argue against her urgings, it was Uzume and Ame who encouraged her.
"Take her to safety, Lady Sakura! We'll handle these bastards!"
"Please, be safe, Lady Sakura. There is no need to worry yourself about us."
Even though Sakura listened to the words of her greatest advisors, her closest friends, she couldn't help but feel a draw back to her village as her and Kaguya ran to the Great Tree. Every few moments, she would turn to look behind her, trying to determine the tide of battle. And each time, Kaguya would pull at the hand so closely held in her own.
"Let us hurry. My fate, our fate, is with the divine tree!" Kaguya declared as she pulled the Haruno matriarch along, urging her forward despite her reservations.
Sakura finally tore her eyes away from the battle behind them and focused ahead of them. Just quickly enough to notice a rustling in the trees beside them.
Despite having noticed the sneak attack before the man had struck, Sakura had not noticed it fast enough to properly evade the attack. Instead, she drew her blade and parried the blow away from Kaguya...
Just enough to take the blow on herself.
"Sakura!" Kaguya screamed as her would be attacker's blade pierced Sakura's stomach, coming through her back with the sickening sound of metal against flesh.
Sakura screamed in a combination of agony and rage as she drew the dagger from the sheath hidden within her obi and plunged it into the throat of her assailant. The man's grip on his sword loosened as he dropped to the ground, gurgling indistinctly as his hands clutched the dagger embedded in his neck. He twitched uselessly on the ground before his jerky movements quickly came to a stop, his head rolling to the side as his hands uselessly fell to his side.
Sakura fell to her knees, gasping in pain as the blade in her abdomen jostled. Her hands trembled as she grabbed onto the hilt and the blade of the weapon, the Haruno matriarch crying out in agony as she ripped the katana from her own chest, knowing such a wound meant death for her whether the blade was removed or not.
"Sakura!" Kaguya yelled out as she dropped to her knees next to Sakura, staining the skirts of her kimono with dirt and blood.
"Kaguya... Please... Go on without me. Save yourself," Sakura begged, her wound which was once sealed shut by the blade now bleeding freely.
"No! I will not! You must stand, please," Kaguya cried as she grabbed Sakura's arm, dragging it over her shoulders and pulling her to her feet despite her cry of agony.
Sakura's free hand clutched her profusely bleeding wound, trying to stem some of the pain that rushed through her, as Kaguya began to run. She tried to keep up with her, to fight against the burning agony in her body and the blurriness that was slowly encroaching on the edges of her vision. Even with her effort, she stumbled every few steps, only staying upright because of Kaguya's powerful grip on her.
"Please, we must hurry!" Kaguya beseeched, her arm looping around Sakura's waist to help keep her upright as they sprinted towards the Great Tree.
In all of her life, Sakura had only come so close to the Great Tree once. It was only during her ascension to Haruno matriarch that she had been allowed so close to the holy symbol. The rumors that the Great Tree would turn whoever approached to a withered branch was a rumor which protected the village but not one which was true. Instead, it was only the most privileged of her family that were allowed so close to the divine symbol.
Coming so near to it now, even with Kaguya at her side, left her heart in knots.
When they finally reached the roots of the Great Tree, Kaguya carefully set her down on the ground. When Kaguya finally released her, Sakura realized that she didn't even have the energy to stand any longer. She crumpled to the ground, falling against the dirt like a puppet that had lost it's strings.
Kaguya gazed down upon her for a moment, her expression contorted in worry, before she turned away and strode up to the tree in a flurry of silk and hair. Sakura watched from the ground, the blurriness that was once at the edge of her vision now dominating it, as Kaguya reached up towards the sky.
When a bright light, so similar to the light that once enveloped Kaguya when she first arrived, drifted down from the tree tops, Sakura thought she had called down a star. She watched, entranced and dying, as Kaguya held the star in her hands as if it were a fruit from the tree. She stared as Kaguya took a bite from the star, her eyes widening in surprise when a scarlet eye opened up on Kaguya's forehead.
Sakura watched, unsure if she was hallucinating as she died from blood loss, as Kaguya was enveloped in the same mysterious blue light which had surrounded her the day they met. An explosion of energy blew around her, whipping up her hair and her kimono with its power, and Sakura could feel the energy in her bones as readily as she could feel the dirt beneath her hands.
She looked on as a set of horns grew from the crown of Kaguya's head, as if she were becoming a goddess of light and power. She continued to watch from her place useless on the ground, a pool of blood slowly growing around her, as Kaguya looked down upon her. She slowly stepped forward to reach down and tenderly envelop her in an embrace, careful of the gushing wounds in her belly and her back.
Sakura collapsed into Kaguya's embrace, unable to draw closer to her or resist with her rapidly weakening body.
"Kaguya..." she whispered against her kimono, her eyes sliding shut, before she felt the strange sensation of speed against her skin.
When Sakura's eyes opened once again, she was once again gazing up at the clear night sky, like she had thousands of times since she was a child. This time, instead, the stars appeared to be getting closer.
Her eyes flicked to what she could see - Kaguya's determined expression, the stars above her, the branches of the Great Tree flying passed her – and she realized that she was ascending towards the heavens.
She wondered if Kaguya was taking her to the stars so she could join her mother and all of the Haruno matriarchs before her.
Even as Sakura stared up at the stars above her, the darkness which was replacing the blurriness in her vision crept ever onward. When a rip in the sky itself formed, tearing open until it revealed a bright, shining celestial body the likes of which Sakura had never seen, she assumed that she was hallucinating.
It was Kaguya's voice that finally tore her away from her dying thoughts.
"Shine upon the world, Infinite Tsukuyomi!" Kaguya commanded, her voice brokering no argument even from the stars themselves.
Sakura watched as the celestial body above her morphed from a bright white to a scarlet red glow, one that matched the crimson of the eye upon Kaguya's forehead. She gazed on as the scarlet light morphed into a blinding glow before her view was obstructed by Kaguya's form. She could nearly feel as Kaguya wrapped her up in a tight embrace, concealing her from the light which shone upon the world below them.
Sakura's head lolled to the side and her fading vision was just able to pick up the sight of the Great Tree's roots erupting from the ground and snatching up the bodies of the men who had tried to kill them.
She wondered if she was dying or dreaming before her vision went dark.
The last thing she heard was Kaguya's declaration to the world below them.
"I shall rule over this world… Together with my love."
During the battle against the invaders, Kaguya had been forced the take in the chakra from the Divine Tree's fruit herself. A part of her was worried that her brothers would be furious at her for taking all of the chakra for herself but she already knew that she had made the decision to protect this world...
To protect Sakura.
Following the enactment of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, a jutsu which she had forced to spare to women of the Haruno village, and the end of the war, Kaguya had taken the woman she had fallen in love with back to her village.
The warriors of the Haruno village had been alarmed by her appearance, a fear fueled not only by the fact she could fly but the fact that she had decimated the opposing army in such a horrifying way. Even now, she could see as the bodies of living men were being dragged away by the branches of her Divine Tree and being wrapped up in cocoons to drain their life force.
But even with their fear, they had seen their lady in her arms. Even though they were frightened, they didn't attack. And even though they didn't understand, they didn't interfere when Kaguya began to use her newly gained chakra to heal Sakura's wounds.
That was two days ago and Sakura had yet to awaken.
The women of her love's clan had already began to pick up the pieces left behind by the brief war. They avoided the branches of Kaguya's tree but gladly used its search for energy to dispose of the bodies of men that filled their lands. They also avoided Sakura's house, the place where Kaguya had made her home at to watch over the Haruno matriarch but, twice a day, two meals would appear on the engawa for Sakura and herself.
They didn't understand what was happening but, for some reason, they trusted Kaguya with the life of their leader. Kaguya didn't know what to make of it. But, more importantly, she didn't know what to make of Sakura's condition.
Normally, after such a healing, a person such as Kaguya would have awakened but Sakura still had yet to stir. Her heart still beat and she continued to draw breath but she had yet to open those beautiful viridian eyes...
Kaguya worried that Sakura would never awaken. These humans... they were so fragile, so weak. She worried that Sakura was too small, too delicate, to be saved by her methods. So, for days she fretted, sitting at Sakura's bedside as she prayed that the woman she had fallen in love with would awaken.
As a final, desperate attempt to save her life, Kaguya shared the chakra she had gained from the fruit of the Divine Tree with her love. Pressing her fingertips against Sakura's hairline, Kaguya watched as the star-like glow of the chakra spread from her fingertips into Sakura's scalp. The ethereal glow in the room died down and Kaguya watched, fretting and waiting for her to finally awaken.
She just had to...
It wasn't until the morning of the third day that Sakura's eyes finally slid open.
"Kaguya..." she whispered, the white haired woman's gaze snapping down to the Haruno matriarch, a gasp of relief escaping her lips.
"Sakura," Kaguya gasped in return, tears building at the corner of her eyes as Sakura gazed up at her with an expression of confusion.
"You're..." Sakura began, her eyes drifting up to the horns sprouting from the crown of Kaguya's head.
She felt as anxiety built within her, a feeling she still wasn't familiar with even after centuries roaming the galaxies. She knew that her appearance was so much different that what Sakura was accustomed to. Even though the Rinne Sharingan upon her forehead was long since shut, the wooden horns remained proud on her head.
Sakura slowly sat up from her place on her futon, her arms shaking under the effort to raise herself. Kaguya's eyes slid shut as Sakura reached up towards the horns on her head, ashamed, but snapped open once again when her gentle fingertips instead brushed across her cheek.
When Kaguya gazed into Sakura's eyes, she was shocked to find amazement there. Sakura's hands, as weak as they were, slowly came up to cradle her face. She dropped her forehead against hers, much in the same way as the night of the attack.
"You're so beautiful..." the Haruno whispered, the tears building in the corners of Kaguya's eyes finally slipping free and streaming down her cheeks.
Sakura tilted her head just slightly, Kaguya's eyes sliding shut as she surged against her. When their lips finally met, Kaguya's heart soared in her chest. Sakura was so warm, so soft against her, and the love she felt from her was an affection she had never felt before.
Even with the tears staining Kaguya's cheeks, and even with Sakura straining to stay upright, their lips moved against one anothers' slowly and passionately. Like lovers that had been separated for centuries finally coming together once again. Sakura's hands continued to cradle Kaguya's cheeks as her own hands reached out to wrap around Sakura's neck.
When they finally pulled away from one another, they met once again for one more tender kiss. Sakura pulled away with a smile, her thumbs brushing across Kaguya's cheeks to wipe away the tear trails.
"I thought… I was so worried," Kaguya cried, more tears slipping down her cheeks which Sakura once again lovingly wiped away, "You are all so fragile. I was frightened I had lost you…"
"I'm still here…" Sakura whispered in response, her soft smile never leaving her lips, "You saved my life."
Kaguya's eyelids slid shut to steel herself. She swallowed away the lump in her throat before opening her eyes once again to gaze into the eyes of her lover.
"Stay with me."
Sakura slowly blinked in confusion, gazing into Kaguya's opal orbs.
"Sakura, stay by my side. This world shall live under our will. The people shall know peace with us leading it," Kaguya asserted, her eyes determined and her expression unwavering.
"Can we truly do such a great thing?" Sakura asked, her hands finally sliding down from Kaguya's cheeks to instead cling to the front of her kimono in her body's weakness.
"I've eaten the fruit of the Divine Tree and now I have the power I need to protect the tree, to protect this village…" Kaguya paused. "To protect you. We shall know peace."
Sakura smiled, her expression weak but the returning look in her eyes strong.
"Peace at last… I've waited my entire life for you to come… and now you have." Her smile widened. "It must be destiny."
"It must... Stay with me, my love..." Kaguya beseeched, her arms tightening around the Sakura's form.
"I will... Kaguya..." Sakura whispered , both of the women smiling before their lips met once again.
For the years following the attack on her village from the men of the Land of Ka, the Haruno village and the lands surrounding it had known peace.
Sakura and her wife Kaguya had made sure of it.
After her love and her wife had passed on the chakra she gained from the Great Tree to her, Sakura had instinctually learned a number of powerful healing techniques which she used to tend to the women of her tribe that still suffered from the attack. More than that, she tended to the women who would travel to her village searching for help and for peace.
It was during these years following the brief war that the Haruno village grew tenfold, the women from nearby lands seeking refuge in a world with men at war. Neither Sakura nor Kaguya turned them away, their village growing until it spanned the breadth of the Great Tree which hung above them, ever watching, ever waiting.
During the beginnings of the growth of their humble village, the men of other lands would come to try to take back the women who had fled or to destroy the village ruled by the Rabbit Goddess and the Cherry Queen. All were struck down before they could breach the gates of the Haruno village, snatched up from the ground by the ever searching roots of the Great Tree, their corpses crafting an army for the battle that Kaguya said would one day come.
Sakura trusted her wife and trusted that she would help her bring peace to this world. And they did.
When the wars became too much for just the Great Tree to fight back, Sakura and Kaguya shared their chakra with the warrior women of the village. Uzume, Ame, and the other great warriors were given the gift of chakra, their powers of fire, wind, earth, water, and lightning growing within them like the Great Tree grew with the sacrifices of their enemies.
With an army of their own, no force could stand against them. And with overwhelming power came a long lasting peace. A peace that remained unthreatened as the chakra powered warriors of the village bore children which also shared their strength and their want for a lack of fighting.
The village comprised of Sakura and Kaguya's many daughters, ones who they had taken in together, remained unchallenged for decades.
For over half a century, Sakura watched as the village that her and her wife ruled over remained free of war, free of strife, free of the fear she once knew. At night, she would gaze up at the stars with the woman she loved and bask in the joy that their peace had brought them.
She had waited her entire life for Kaguya to come and, now that she had, she finally had the peace she had always sought. The end of war that she had always wanted.
And when Sakura looked up at the expanse of shining lights above them, she knew her ancestors were looking down proudly.
A/N: Uzume and Ame, Sakura's warriors, are named after one goddess: Ame-no-Uzume-no-mikoto. She is the goddess of dawn, mirth and revelry. She has a famous part in a tale where Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, seals herself away in a cave and she is the one to lure her out and bring sunlight to the world once again (by dancing and ripping her clothes off, very exciting).
Aino, the woman who visits Sakura to pick up medical supplies, is the name of the woman who is originally assigned to be Kaguya's handmaiden in canon. She is a member of the Land of Sou.
Hoshi, Kaguya's handmaiden in my fic, means "star". A fitting name for the theme of the story, I believe.
A shishi-odoshi is those bamboo/water fixtures that periodically fill with water and empty against a stone. The clanking sound they make is supposed to scare away vermin like deer.
The Land of Ka is canon, they are the country that invaded the Land of Sou during Kaguya's backstory episodes.