A/N- Heyyyy Everybody! It is me! Back again with another fanfiction for the masses. This time I'm working on a SasuSaku project based on an image by annria2002 on deviantart. A commission entitled Time. I hope you enjoy this fanfiction. If you enjoy it, please leave a review. They fuel me. (Candy and Hot Chocolate are also acceptable forms of appreciation -I kid-) Please enjoy this fic.

Chapter One: The Concept of Time

For Sakura Haruno, the concept of time was subjective to the moment. Sometimes it seemed to pass in a blur, while other moments crept on and seemed to never want to end. For her, the concept of time was nothing. And yet it was everything. Oddly enough, she never understood it. At least, she hadn't.

In her past, she'd met a man, or more so a boy. She was about five years old, he had to be at least twenty. Her parents oddly enough seemed to know and trust him, and considering the protective nature of the two of them. She was also fairly easy to trust him. And when she was with him. Time seemed to lose it's meaning.

For years, he'd come to see her, once or twice a year and they'd spend time together, and yet through all those years she'd never learned his name. She knew nothing about the man who had been there for her, in all his brilliant and annoying glory. Her annoyance seemed to develop more recently, towards his one word answers, and his grunts. Don't even get her started on those smirks whenever she got angry because he wouldn't actually talk to her. And yet, despite everything, she still loved him. He was special. Even more so, he was hers.

She was in the kitchen, cleaning up the dishes from breakfast when her mother's voice greeted her. Seventeen years old. She'd known him for twelve years of her life, at this point. After all, today was her birthday.

"He's coming today. After all, it's a very special day."

The rose haired girl perked up, and a brilliant smile came to her features which was so wide that her eyes seemed to crinkle to a near close. She moved quicker then, time seemed to fly past in a succession of seconds, despite the odds that it probably took a few minutes for her to finish the chores laid out before her. But needless to say they were done, quicker than they'd have been done any other time. After all, she had a party to prepare for, and a visitor she'd been dying to see finally coming back to see her. The best present she could've ever possibly asked for if she was being completely honest.

-/-

Hours had passed, and the movement of time seemed to slow tremendously. It drove her absolutely crazy. She'd taken her time to get dressed, and prepared for the rest of the day, and now she was left with the anxious waiting that came every time her parents told her that he was coming to see her. She was sure she'd spent the last twenty minutes thumping her foot against the floor in frustration. Long slender arms reached to the side, plucking up the book that rested on the bedside table, since she was being made to wait on her birthday, she supposed she'd just read.

It gave her something to fill the time, and wasn't boring. And knowing her luck, soon as she'd cracked the book and gotten to a good part, he'd finally make his appearance. Then it would be her turn to make him wait. She wasn't one to interrupt her spot in a good book for the sake of anyone else.

Emerald eyes skimmed across the pages, taking in line after line after line of elegantly written words, devouring each and every moment that passed for the characters she'd found herself reading about. She'd found herself about mid-chapter when the door to her room opened and she found that time itself seemed to freeze around her.

It was a very distinct feeling. Almost as if every breath she took belonged to only her, that there was no one else in the world. Other ways she'd described the feeling were almost as a chill of anticipation as if in that moment the entire world could belong to her. It was truly terrifying and exhilirating all at once. Then, as always, time picked up where it left off, as she continued through her chapter. Her hand raised, one finger presenting itself proposing that he not say a word until she was finished. She was sure he'd learned his lesson from the last time she'd lost her spot in a book because of him.

Again, as it always did in his presence, time seemed distorted. She couldn't tell you how much time had passed since he'd entered upon her finishing of the chapter she'd been reading. She closed the book and sat it to the side. Emerald casting up to meet Obsidian for the first time since his arrival.

He offered her a grunt, that was accompanied with a smirk. It was obvious to tell that he was asking her a question. Miss me?

The cocky bastard, She thought to herself before giving in and nodding in response. It was strange how well she knew him. Just by his mannerisms, and the way he moved. She could tell exactly what each grunt seemed to mean. "I'm starting to wonder if you're ever going to stop leaving me."

At the comment, his expression shifted. And it was obvious to tell that he was sorry that he couldn't stay as much as she'd have liked him too. Not that it would change anything. At least she had what time she did have with him. Time that seemed to never end when she did have it. That was all she could ask for she supposed.

"Eventually."It was a like a spoken promise. As if there was a reason he couldn't stay. She supposed she could accept that. Everyone had their motives. Even men like him, men with no known name. Called after the thing that made life move. Time.

-/-

They had joined the party a short time later, and Sakura's happiness was like a lifesource. It was obvious that her happiness had an effect on all of the guests at her party. She had no reason for her happiness, beyond the fact that she had him there at her side. But it radiated onto the gathering. She exhaled a happy sigh as Naruto made his way over to her.

"Sakura! Happy Birthday!"In true Naruto fashion a tight hug enveloped her, and in her response, she smiled, and after a moment she pushed him away from her. She appreciated the gesture but she really wished he'd learn some personal space.

As she moved through the room, she got a happy birthday from every guest, and she passed thank you's for the pile of gifts that sat on the table in the corner of the room. She really was grateful for the friends she had. Even more so to have them all gathered in one place, which was almost too hard to do anymore. After all, most of them had jobs, and school, and other things to worry about.

She took a deep breath, suddenly the air felt heavy around her, and a sense of dread washed over her, her hand lunging out, to take grasp on the dark haired male's. Time froze. Completely. Where as everyone had been moving only moments before, they were completely still. No breath, no sign of life. Nothing. Just completely frozen in the moment as the room filled with new life. Creatures. Cruel looking, ugly creatures that seemed like some type of hybrid between minature dragons, and demonic hounds.

"What are those?"She asked, as the pack of them about six or seven began to circle them in the center of the large room.

"Time Stalkers. Sakura, be careful. Don't let them touch you."

Just as he spoke the words, a pair of claws lunged at her, catching her dress which seemed to disintergrate where it had been sliced, leaving a massive gap in the fabric, as if the life was being sucked away from the garment itself. Other pieces began to brown and deteriorate before her eyes and she let out a cry, as she watching him engage with the Time Stalkers.

Each swift movement, took one down, as if he'd faced off against the these things before. Another lunged forward towards her, and he wrapped his arms around her, turning into the attack, taking it so that she didn't have to. He didn't even seem to be hurt. Other than the obvious blood dripping from claw marks. She was about to ask what he was, when released her again.

The battle continued to rage around her, time remaining frozen, her friends standing there unmoving, her parents with their eyes trained on them, also unmoving. The dark haired male, she was so desperately in love with after years and years of time, and his opponents where the only things moving, she herself had even frozen solid, for fear of the beasts training their attention onto her again.

Minutes passed, and again he pulled her into his arms. This time the motion was quick and shocking. Almost like a bolt of eletricity had been sent down her spine to shock her system into awareness. Her memory called forth the first time that she'd asked him his name as a child. He'd told her something. He'd told her that names have power. Before he'd told her that she could just call him Time.

Emerald eyes widened and a tiny gasp left her painted lips as he whispered a single word into her ear. A name.

Sasuke.

The movements of the Time Stalkers seemed to be moving slower, while they seemed to be going at a normal pace. She felt something come to rest at her throat, and the sound of clasp being done. Then he released her from his grasp, and he and the Time Stalkers disappeared from view. The sound of his voice filling the air around her in his last words before leaving her.

"When you awaken, all of time will be yours."