All because of
slight!AU/slight!OOC : "You see, but you do not observe." - Sherlock Holmes. She could see everything, and what she observed beneath the outcasts were friends in need. Glimpses of what little acts of kindness and perception beneath prejudice can do to change an apocalyptic future.
The first time she sees him is in the swings right outside the Academy.
Rumors and gossip are just hogwash, her mother told her, and that poor boy just needs a hug and a good meal. Oftentimes she'd see her greet the outcast blonde on her way to and from work in the hospital. But Sakura was still in the timid stage, not daring to go out and interact. She preferred books and origami; classics to medical tomes to science books.
Books were so much better than people: they were easy to understand, easy to reach and always sitting on the shelf, truly reliable comrades. Sakura didn't need to exert much effort in understanding the Periodic Table of Elements, the Human Body or Sherlock Holmes.
The little 4 year old is a comical sight, dragging a large book half her size ("There goes that funny little librarian." the adults remark amusedly) to the field near the Academy when she sees the boy sitting all alone on the swing.
It was a Saturday; her Mom wouldn't come home until after six in the evening and it was a break day. She'd only seen him a couple of times, and that was always swinging alone on that swing outside the building. There wasn't much interest initially
But then...
He looked particularly sad this time, and she didn't known why. This did not sit well with Sakura. Discreetly moving closer, she applied Sherlock's methods of deduction (years from now, she'd roll her eyes at her stupidity as to why she didn't just ask Naruto. The jinchuuriki laughed and slung an arm around her petite frame. "You saw, and you observed.")
The blonde didn't look quite well off. His shirt and dark shorts were slowly coming to tatters, and his worn slippers and grimy stage proved testament to that. By the looks of his elbows, hands, feet and face all dirty and dusty and scraped, he'd just narrowly escaped a beating.
Sakura hesitated. She'd heard of the rumors of this Naruto being a monster, of the unsavory reputation he had as a demon and thus the scapegoat of the village. If she befriended him now, she and perhaps her mother would also suffer the same mistreatment.
Naruto winced as he stretched his arm to nurse his leg, and the rosette made up her mind.
She walks away.
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Only to spend her pocket money on two jumbo sized ice cream cones and walk back towards the boy, book and dessert in tow.
Unaware of how some passersby look at her in alarm, the little girl pokes the boy after she sets down her makeshift tray.
Naruto Uzumaki looks up to see his future best friend, Sakura Haruno.
She was nervous - this was her first official meeting with someone outside her little comfort bubble of home. Her palm nearly hit him and the blonde out of reflexes, recoiled to avoid being slapped.
There was no contact.
Opening his eyes Naruto saw the girl blush ("You were so cute!" he teased the medic) and her pale, dainty hand thrust out towards him. He blinks in bewilderment.
"WE ARE FRIENDS!" she declares stoutly and fiercely and loudly. His aching chest suddenly erupts in warmth and happiness after the initial shock of this actually happening to him. Naruto does not refuse ("You were so pretty and intimidating - no room for argument there.") and besides, he didn't want to refuse.
Naruto Uzumaki grins, grasping her hand firmly with his dusty ones.
"Okay!"
And things fell out smoothly from there, with every bit of ease as two 4 year old children can accomplish. It wasn't that hard.
That very same night Mrs. Mebuki Haruno comes back from the hospital to meet her excited daughter and a beaming blonde boy. Neighbors be damned, the old mother was happy for them.
She cooks Instant Ramen for the two, and this starts Naruto's legendary obsession with the food.
Sakura Haruno has found her Boswell, her Watson, her bosom friend, in Naruto Uzumaki.
The Sandaime is curious about the little pink haired civilian that Naruto is completely and utterly in love with. One day Mebuki receives a modest invitation from the Third Hokage himself, outside her very door, if she would be so kind as to allow Sakura to meet with him and Naruto.
On the date and time appointed, Hiruzen Sarutobi sees a little female Kazuki toddling after a rambunctious Naruto towards the Hokage buildings. The blushing smile on her face and the tightly joined hands between the friends tells the Sandaime everything he needs to know.
Sakura is wary, but polite and extremely well mannered for a 4 year old child. Hiruzen has heard of the 'Little Detective' whose main cases discussed about even amongst the ANBU who guard Naruto and his friend are: the lucrative 'Mystery of the Missing Bust', the hilarious 'Case of the Vanishing Gold', the shockingly enigmatic 'A Study in Seeds' and the famous 'Adventure of the Kage Monument' which hit even the headlines.
Her astute observations in the Third's motives for bringing her here to see if she was a potential threat or bully to Naruto endeared her entirely to the old man. Already more than convinced of her genuine interests in befriending the Fox Demon's vessel, the Sandaime thanks God as he waves goodbye to the pair of friends.
There is light even amidst the darkness.
"This has been your 7th attempt in the last 3 hours to elicit a negative response from me through base mockery." Sakura tells Ami.
The children are playing in the gardens, and the purple haired menace has arrived once more to annoy her. The pink haired girl doesn't really know what she did to earn Ami Watanabi's ire, but then again, she didn't know what she did either to earn the rest of her class' envy. Naruto is sick and has to stay with her Mom in her house (since his house is a trash bin and both Harunos refuse to let their darling boy go back to such a place) so her trusty Boswell has to rest.
It probably had something to do with her prodigious skill in all subjects, the constant praises and awards heaped upon her by teachers and adults alike, and her voiced frank observations about the cheat next to her or the bully prowling for lunch money.
Ami sniffs. "Your forehead's too big." she snarks. Her posse echoes the insult, exaggerating each vowel like a malfunctioning megaphone.
This does unsettle Sakura. She masks her hurt by cooly rebutting: "Everyone is aware that a pronounced development of the forehead and cranium also means a pronounced development in intelligence."
"What are you trying to say?" Ami narrows her eyes.
"That your heads are too small, and match your brains."
It wasn't the most cruel thing she'd ever said, but this makes the bully even more infuriated. Sakura shrugs and begins to walk away, ignoring Ami's insult barrage, but one freezes her on her feet.
"It's no wonder your dad left you! Knowing he had a freak for a daughter, befriending freaks like that demon Uzumaki!"
Had her future best friend Yamanaka Ino not intervened that moment in Sakura's defense, the pink haired girl would've throttled the Watanabi girl. But Ino did, by unleashing a furious tirade that finally caught the attention of the kindergarten teacher, upon finding a wailing Ami, a red faced Ino and a stunned Sakura.
After Ino defends Sakura from Ami and the other bullies, they become best friends too. The former introduces her to the jinchuuriki boy, though just recovering from a nasty cold, is exuberant in his greetings.
At first Ino is wary of the rumored demon child Naruto, but it all changes when the Uzumaki calls her gorgeous.
The Yamanaka heiress adores him. Sakura idly contemplates within her pink head amidst the rowdy sea of blondes.
"I feel like a helium nucleus, surrounded by two electrons." she tells them one day. Naruto and Ino think a bit to decide whether the statement is a compliment or an insult. But judging from the sincere, cheerful way she says it, the two blondes grin and hug her back in return.
Sakura's mother comes home late after work, and sees a touching sight of three best friends for life asleep on the couch. Getting a blanket from the cabinet, she drapes it gently over the trio. Then she calls the Yamanaka residence.
Mebuki Haruno was surprised at her daughter's choice in entering the ninja profession, and even more so at her determination. Then again, Kazuki too was quite stubborn and always was born to be a shinobi, despite his humble civilian origins.
The rosette proudly showed her top notch scores, and confidently declared that she'd finish the entire curriculum in two years' time. That also prompted Naruto, whose main interest were pranks and ramen, and Ino, whose main interests were flowers and boys, to urge, respectfully, the Sandaime and Inoichi Yamanaka to enter them into the Academy early.
(Which led to classroom issues and politics.)
Sakura could not, for the life of her, understand Ino's current cynosure of her boy crazy obsessions.
She could understand, from a neutral point of view, Naruto's fierce rivalry with Sasuke Uchiha. The onyx eyed boy's Uchiha egotism irked the blonde, and they were always arguing, one way or another.
Sasuke and Sakura though, were in a sort of Cold War/rivalry with each other in terms of academics. The only thing the young Uchiha was able to best her in was in Taijutsu, and that weakness was about to be rectified very soon.
The Uchiha on the other hand, found Sakura to be unlike any girl he'd ever met. ("How romantic teme." "Shut up, dobe.")
Sakura Haruno was honest, to the point of rudeness. He admits she's smarter than him, and smarter than most of his older Uchiha cousins, even Shisui (but Itachi is untouchable) and doesn't fawn over him, unlike Ami and Ino and the other girls. He finds a worthy rival in her (and he guesses Naruto too) and very soon, a friendship thicker than blood and stronger than time ("And that's the closest thing to a love confession a baby Sasuke can make- OW!" "Dobe!")
But this one lunch break wins the Uchiha over completely.
His Mom wasn't able to make Sasuke's customary tomato lunch today, and that alone put him in a spoiled mood. Nibbling at his tamago lunch while glaring at the rest of humanity, his eyes spot the trio of friends sitting under the shade.
"Sasuke-kun, you want my chocolate?" a gaggle of girls flock over to him. He takes the offered gifts with a quiet 'thank you', making the girls squeal, especially Ami with her chocolate. He shoves them in his bag and watches with slight interest at the pink haired girl and her two blonde friends.
The books she brings are either the classic literature that he sometimes sees Itachi reading or the science and medical books in book stores that make his head spin. Today it is a book about rocks and gems: geology. But this isn't what catches him.
It is the fruit (not vegetable) that stuns Sasuke and that Sakura pulls from her lunchbox and bites into.
Almost as fast as Shisui's Shunshin, the Uchiha is in front of them, staring at Sakura and the tomato in her mouth.
Naruto is taken off guard by the speed and intimidating aura exuding from Sasuke, and Ino begins to blush and squeal. But his eyes do not move from the rosette and the tomato.
Sakura is unnerved by the sheer intensity of his gaze, but her observations told her it was the juicy snack in her palm that was attracting his attention. She moves her hand. His head and eyes follow the tomato. She waves it on either side of Ino and Naruto. The same result.
A cold thing touches his nose and Sasuke blinks. It is a big, red tomato handed out by Sakura. She smiles. "I love tomatoes. You seem to be in need of one."
He tries not to come off as being too easy. "How do you know what I need?" he asks curtly, unintentionally quoting sappy telenovelas and Mary Sues.
The smile turns into a smug smirk worthy of his clan. "It's hardly a deduction."
Ino is goggle eyed at the exchange and battle of wills. "Take the tomato, take the tomato..." she whispers excitedly to herself.
Naruto is too full to argue again with Sasuke and burps. "Just take the tomato, Sasuke-teme, or I'll eat it!" he snaps.
Automatically the tomato is reduced to half, onyx eyes glaring pointedly at the blonde Uzumaki as if to dare eat his tomato. Seeing all is well and good, she and Ino (and a reluctant Naruto) invite Sasuke to eat with them under the oak tree. Not to be rude (and lonely) he brings his bag with him and sits down next to a sighing Ino and a loudly munching Naruto (Mrs. Haruno's cooking is divine)
Sasuke is in love.
The trio becomes a squad.
On Ino's 6th birthday Inoichi is surprised to find in his house a calm party.
His wife places a finger to her lips as the Yamanaka parents watch the ongoing debacle. Ino, who would rather play with dolls and do up her hair with flowers and rant was seriously reading a book. A big grown up book about Medical Jutsu with Sakura's name emblazoned on the plastic cover. There is also an interested Sasuke peering in and Ino wasn't smothering the Uchiha boy.
There is Sakura, carrying a big tray that Naruto helps her carry and Sasuke soon rises up to aid. The tray is laden with BBQ and hot rice that she dishes out for everybody. She gives an extra big bowl to a blushing Chouji, and sets down bowls next to Ino and Sasuke and a hungry Naruto and an impatient Shikamaru, whose barely concealed enthusiasm for the next round of Shogi finally stuns the adults into just smiling knowingly and greeting the children with a bundle of gifts and more food.
Naruto's gift is a photo of the trio.
Sasuke's is a potted tomato plant.
Shikamaru's is a pretty flower clip.
Chouji's is a lacquered pair of chopsticks.
Sakura's is a lovely origami bouquet of roses and an origami set: her magic show and shocking ability to animate origami birds and figurines delights Ino and the boys.
The squad grows.
During Naruto's birthday, Mrs. Haruno treats the group of children to ramen and BBQ. But as soon as they give their gifts their parents have to pull them out - there is an important council meeting that need the children of the Clan heads, and they apologize profusely to the understanding birthday celebrant. The three wave.
"We'll be back tomorrow!" Ino shouts. Chouji smiles waving his BBQ.
"Not so loud, Ino." Shikamaru groans, and Sasuke 'Hn's in Sasuke-language.
Of course there are the sneering villagers that glower blackly at the innocent child. Naruto tries not to flinch at each whisper and stare. Mebuki couldn't take it anymore and snarled at the stunned people to leave her children alone. At the end of the day Sakura makes an origami butterfly that settles on his shoulder, along with free Ramen coupons and a book on the dish's history.
"Thank you Sakura-chan!" he grins, and wraps his arms around her neck. Sakura grins back at him and returns the gesture.
"Of course! I'd be lost without my Boswell. Besides, we all weren't really sure what to get you apart from Ramen coupons." she replies sincerely. They are sitting on top of the Kage monument while Naruto lovingly unwraps each present. He's got new clothes from Ino, food coupons from Chouji, a set of toy shuriken from Sasuke and an edition about deers from Shikamaru.
"The best gift you could ever give me is your friendship." his voice is too choked with emotion to say anymore. Or that Mebuki declares that he is her child or that he wasn't alone because he has wonderful friends and Sakura.
(Ino sees this through her Shintenshin and gazes at Sakura's unconscious form. "I honestly don't know when she'll wake up." Inner confesses. "I just wanted to share... her treasured memories. These are all I've got."
"Thank you." the blonde Yamanaka says to the Inner Sakura. "You don't know how much this means to us."
It is later during that very same day that Sakura is proclaimed dead.
"To Sakura." Sasuke declares firmly. Naruto raises his glass of hot tea. So does Ino, and Chouji, and Shikamaru, Itachi and the rest of Konoha 12, their senseis, Kakashi and the Godaime Tsunade, her second mother and shishou. Her mother Mebuki Haruno does so too. Others all over the Five Nations do this too, to honor their fallen comrades on this solemn occasion.
Nagato came by and Konan. The Akatsuki, one by one, gave their condolences. The Rinnegan user could not resurrect the dead. He wasn't God. The Origami mistress places paper roses over the medic prodigy's grave, for the origami protégée and friend she had found in her. Naruto forgives them. They too, fought for what they believed in. If Sakura could do it, so could they. Sasuke nods and they all drink her hellish blend of what Ino dubbed 'smelly feet'.
They never thought they'd get used to the potent Russian Earl Grey Blend from TWG, Sakura's favorite.
There is no alcohol because the medic would've preached about the pernicious effects of spirits on the body.
She dies on that fateful afternoon, succumbing to the comatose state she is in. That last blow from Madara's Gedo Statue - the one meant for Naruto - should've killed her instantly. But she'd taken the brunt force using all of her chakra against the bijuu attacks, enough to give them all an opening to finally kill both him and Obito.
Sakura is hailed a hero, and a uniting factor for all nations.
Because of random, profound acts of kindness...
Clans in Konoha united, prompting Fugaku to abolish the planned coup de' tat of the Uchiha Elders.
The Uchiha Massacre never happened. Itachi was able to free himself from the weight of that evil mission.
Danzo was discovered and convicted for all his misdeeds.
The Sandaime gave his life to protect Konoha.
Sasuke did not follow Orochimaru.
Neji was able to break free from his curse.
Gaara found a peaceful sleep for the first time in 14 years.
Sai's smiles were real.
There was a United Alliance between the 5 Major villages and the small ones.
No one else had to die. Asuma lived to see his son with Kurenai.
As soon as there was true Peace, the Akatsuki disbanded, returning and reviving the jinchuuriki under Pein's command and disbanded. There was no need for suffering anymore. As soon as Madara and Obito's machinations were revealed, Nagato and Konan saw fit to fight against him with Konoha and the other countries.
A New Age dawned upon the Ninja World.
All because of simple acts of kindness that grew into the bulwarks of the Modern world, and prevented the destructive future that lacked all that.
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"I'm going to miss you, Sakura-chan." Naruto says to the gravestone. It's been 3 years since the invasion and defeat of Madara.
Her name is also on the monument for Konoha's fallen, but the jinchuuriki and the fox demon both feel the need to give her a separate grave. Just for her [and him] on top of the Kage monument where two 4 year olds sat next to each other to watch the village sprawled out before them.
He walks away. There is nothing else to say nor do. Hinata should be with the children by now.)
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Many centuries have passed. Eras rise and fall, and wars and time flood and ebb onto the shores of humanity. The Leaf Village is but a wisp of a name; not even pieces of rubble or a half broken relic to show that a village even stood there at all, but its Will of Fire, its spirit still stands strong in the hearts of all Japanese.
There is only one that proves that life once did exist. On a high cliff towering over the vast expanse of forest and wildlife lies a gravestone underneath a cherry blossom tree. It would lay untouched - proof of life that once was, life that is, and life that will be.
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"Oi, Kura! You've got to see this!"
A light red haired girl shuts the book with a weary huff and looks at her friend. "What is it, Naruto?" she asks. On a bright summer day her hair seems to be afire and glowing with an almost pinkish hue.
A few feet away her blonde friend is jumping up and down excitedly. "This is so uncanny it's almost freaky!" he shouts. Sakura Haruno sighs and walks to where the Uzumaki is pointing and looks.
And freezes.
For on two worn, chipped granite headstones are faded letters that still can be seen. She reaches a hand out to touch it, tentatively, not quite believing the sight before her.
"Ha! Teme and Sai are not going to believe this!" He reaches for his camera and takes a photo shot of it. "This must be, like, a 1000 years old!"
"Older." Sakura murmurs, feeling the dips of the engravings. This was older than the Yamato and Nara periods. The dates there - only a handful of digits - displayed its status as an important Japanese artifact: these people were alive, probably ninjas, during The Shinobi Era.
Here Lies
SAKURA UZUMAKI nee HARUNO (110-127)
NARUTO UZUMAKI (110-192)
the dearest of friends, the strongest of comrades, the kindest of people and the most honorable of ninja.
True soul mates forever entwined.
"We should probably go, Naruto. They're waiting for us at Sasuke's summer cottage, and you know how Ino gets when we're late."
"Pfft, not as late as Kakashi-sensei! And summer cottage my ass! More like a mansion, that filthy rich bastard-" and as he proceeded to go on one of his tirades, Sakura smiled and bowed her head in a short prayer for these two souls.
The two best friends walk back to the car.
They are holding each other's hands tightly.
"So, still saying that Hinata and I look good together?"
"Shut up and drive, Naruto."
"Ha ha! I'm taking that as a yes to our date, Sakura-chan! Yours and Miiinnee"
"Baka." but Sakura smiles and does not deny it.
All because of you.