Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
The Wayfarer
--O--
Sakura was tired. Her body ached everywhere but still she kept running. Running, Running. Stopping meant capture or death. And capture itself meant death too, so running was her only choice.
She glanced forward. She tripped and bashed her head into the hard dirt and sticks scattered across the forests underbelly.No. She couldn't put her foot there. Repeat. A half centimeter to the right. Ah! There. Another step. Another. Her legs felt to her like they were moving at an ant's pace, but she knew she was running with a speed that would make Lee proud.
To a normal person anyway...
Forward. Forward. She had to keep glancing forward. It was the only way she could be sure of her footing. Dammit this was so hard! She had to use the Foresight for every step! Every land, every jump, every stride. To make sure she didn't bash herself into a low tree branch, or trip over a root.
Cursing her blindness, glanced forward more than a few seconds, finding the results of stopping her aching legs for a moment. Could she stop yet? A minute she glanced. Two. Thre—
A kunai pierced her stomach, and she screamed.
No. She couldn't stop yet. Had to keep moving.
"Dammit, if only I could see!" She cursed hatefully. Orochimaru would pay… he would pay in blood for this. For stealing her eyes… for killing the Hokage. She gave a low snarl, knowing that she sounded quite a bit like a wolf at bay, but she didn't care.
She hated herself so much that she wasn't sure if she shouldn't just stop, and let herself be killed. Let it end. End so the guilt would stop plaguing her. She was such a fool. Such a complete idiot! That stupid name she'd given herself after realizing just what it was she could do… Thinking she could help.
The Wayfarer.
She was a monster… but there were worse ones than her in the world. She wanted to stamp her foot down on the idiot that she had been those few months ago, and crush her into death. That way the Hokage would still be alive… Konoha would still be… home.
But more than even her self-hatred was her loathing of Orochimaru.
An explosion decorated her ears and for a sparse moment she was burning in flames, screaming like mad. Then she returned to herself and leapt, clearing over the exploding tag that would have blown her to pieces, listening to it burst below her.
"You'll have to do better than that! I can see everything you throw at me!" She screamed into the darkness.
Ten kunai pierced her arms. Her legs, her chest, and she screamed in agony.
She ducked.
Ten kunai pierced her back. Her legs. One through her skull. Failure.
She jumped.
Six kunai pierced her legs. One, her arm. It hurt but not quite as bad as the first two. Still another failure.
She jumped, and twisted.
Only one kunai hit her arm! What luck!
She jumped, and twisted, tucking the arm in.
Ten kunai flew harmlessly by her.
She landed only a bit wobbly, joy filling her at her success. Maybe she could make it after all! 'God… please…!'
She ran. She died.
She leapt. She died.
She twisted. She died.
She blocked. She died.
Again. Again! Again!
Terror taking her she began to fear there would not be any way out of this.
She ducked, and kunai pierced her. These were ANBU! Konoha's best! She could move a hundred ways—a thousand! –and still never escape their eagle like aim!
She gave a silent prayer for forgiveness as she repeated once more…
Whirling, she flung seven kunai in random directions.
No sounds greeted her. She died.
Whirling, she flung seven kunai in random directions.
One low moan and the sound of a dead ANBU, stabbed… somewhere. It sounded like a hard hit. Probably the chest, but more likely an arm. She died.
Whirling, she flung seven kunai. One where she had tried previously, though a bit lower, and the other six in random directions.
Two moans! And one a signified death as clearly as a funeral bell! Hah. Victory! But not good eno—! She died.
She repeated.
She repeated.
She repeated.
It seemed hours that she kept staring those few seconds ahead. Until finally, she knew they had all died. Each one pierced through the heart, face, lungs or throat. The sounds of their gagging… scraping. By the time she was finally able to release her Foresight, she was weeping in horror and what she'd done…
'They were going to kill you! You know they were going to! The whole village wanted you dead! So let them suffer! Let them all burn!' She thought hatefully. 'I'm not a killer! I'm innocent! I didn't kill the Sandaime! I can't do this or they'll never understand!' fought back an opposing side in her mind.
Confliction scoured her. It had been her only choice! O-otherwise… oh god… she'd… she'd actually killed—!
"Sakura."
Sakura turned, glaring daggers into the darkness… damn! How had he caught up so fast!?
"Naruto." She hissed. "Get away from me! Go away!" She bellowed. How? How could she cry?
She couldn't see him but she knew that smile was there. That sad smile… She hated it. She'd give anything to feel that giant old grin he'd once had. Before the exam… before… she'd…
'Murderer. Fox-Touched! Demonbride! Etherburned! Herald of the Nine! Murderer! Murderer!' The litany of names she remembered hearing as ANBU and villagers and ninja alike glared up at her. Tied to stake. Burning. Burning! Oh god… they—!
She opened herself to her Foresight, as fast as she could.
It didn't help. His arms were around her before she could think.
She struggled, but she might as well have tried to wriggle free from a cement coating. His arms were like stone walls. He could kill her without a second thought… dammit! No matter how hard she tried, he was always ahead of her! He was always…!
"I hate you, Naruto! I hate you!" She screamed, pounding her fists into his shoulder. She could feel tears brimming and leaking around the caverns where her eyes used to be, soaking the Konoha head protector she still wore, now to cover her eyes, instead of for any loyalty to that… place.
"I know." The boy replied, and only held her tighter as she began to bawl into his shoulder.
"Why don't you kill me! You're the only one who can! Do it! Get it over with! Kill me and go back to your precious village!"
The only sound in the forest was that of her weeping into his shirt. He held her close, and she hated him for it. She hated him for doing this to her. For capturing her. Holding her… for bringing her back to her death like she knew he would—!
"Fuck the village." He cursed.
Her breath came up short. "N-Naru—!"
"If those... those fools can't see that you're innocent then they don't deserve to have you with them. Or me…!" He growled low and guttural, his voice dripping with venom the likes of which Sakura had only heard on Orochimaru's tongue.
She saw. The sound of kunai. Not ten… it sounded like hundred whistling toward her. Hundreds? She could hardly handle ten! Not without her eyes! God dammit if she could only—!
She felt Naruto tense. His army of shadow clones appearing all around. And… the red burning scalding chakra that she could now feel akin to her own within each of them. She could feel the waves of chakra… and she could almost see them, too. The strong arms around her were gone, and the sounds of moaning and death and dying suddenly erupted all around. Ten or twenty ANBU dead within moments.
If she had been innocent of betraying Konoha before, she sure as hell wasn't now.
'They're ANBU! There's no way this is happening! How could Naruto kill ANBU!? How could you!? It's not possible!' The rational part of her mind tried to reason. The gurgling of the still living ninja surrounding them did not help.
"N-Naruto! You… You didn't—!" She gasped. Repeating. She heard it. Again and again to make sure it was what she thought it was. The sound of shuriken sinking into hard flesh. Screams of dying. Or gurgles… Naruto had aimed for throats.
She flew. Moments before she knew Naruto's hands would clasp around her again, she flew like living lightning, seeing moments into the future a hundred, two hundred times over, flying faster than even the weapons Naruto's clones had thrown. One blocked kunai. Repeat. Two. Repeat. Two. Repeat! Three! Repeat! Three! Dammit! Repeat! Four!
She wasn't that fast! She just couldn't stop that many…!
'Why are you trying to save them!? You just killed seven yourself! He's helping you! Don't you see?'
Naruto's arms flashed around her, his power, whatever it was, giving him the speed to match her Foresight, and the sound of death echoed in her ears. The four she had saved staring at them in stark terror. She could feel it in the air. "I'd kill for you Sakura. I'd die for you. But most importantly, I'll live for you. I promise…" He whispered into her ears. She could feel him trying to hold back his own tears. He'd never killed before…! How could he…? "And I also promise you… we are going to kill Orochimaru."
"Not without me!" Came a low voice, more of a growl than even Naruto's. Sasuke dropped from the branches. She felt the vibrations as his feet hit the ground. Four dead ANBU, the ones' she'd tried so hard to save, left in his wake.
"No!" Sakura exclaimed. "Sasuke, Orochimaru would eat you alive! You're not strong enough to—!"
"Then make me strong!" He roared. "Make… make me what you are…" His voice trailed off in defeat. He killed the ANBU because they had been shocked. Not because he was more skilled then they, and he knew it. He was just a genin. He wasn't special like she and Naruto. The Chidori would not be strong enough to kill the snake bastard. The Sharingan would make Orochimaru laugh… if he didn't just pluck Sasuke's eyes out and take them for his own.
But… to make him like them? Could they do it…? Sakura looked forward. Far. Farther. Farther! Months or more!And saw Sasuke as a different black haired boy. Heard him at least. Felt his aura. He, too, was strong.
They could find a way. They could still be together. Team seven was still together.
"Alright… Sasuke." She murmured, tears leaking down her cheeks. Shock took hold of her as she realized just how far she'd looked. How much she'd been using her Foresight. She fell unconscious.
And dreamed of the past…
--O--
A/N: Okay. So this little dribble was inspired by my old Naruto fic "Cherry Yellow" and is kinda a rewrite of that with a new twist. Comes from reading Dominic Deegan, watching Lola Rennt, and Next.
I'm gonna have some fun with this… hope you all enjoy. Short for now but the next chapter might be done more quickly than you would expect. Course this'll be done in my usual sort o' flashback like style. The next chapter begins with the end of the wave mission, and will probably go till we catch up with the events of this prologue.
Please review!
Till Next!
MB