The New PINK is Me
Story Context: This story takes place way before the original Naruto series began; when Sakura is about five. Please use your imagination!
Summary: In which two barren, young girls are brought back to their childhood, in very different ways.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the amazing Masashi Kishimoto except for my oc, Mayuko Enamoto.
Prologue: Death is Unsuspecting
Screaming in fear, Sakura woke up with a jolt of alarm. She gasped for air and looked around in disarray, because something was terribly wrong. She quickly tried to calm herself down to figure out what was happening. After several minutes of slowing down her breathing, the young teenager searched the room she had slept in. It was a little overwhelming, that she actually survived the attack. Maybe the girl had underestimated her chances in living, and was saved by medics.
Sakura started to create possible theories of what had occurred, but each one felt faulty. There was something about this place that was all too familiarly eerie and it was a little strange that she would be resting in her parent's house instead of the hospital. 'Why am I here?' She asked herself. Did her mother request that she be nurtured in her old bedroom?
The kunoichi rapidly felt her stomach to touch the scar or hole, but none was there. Didn't the missing ninja plunge a wound in her? And then a terrible thought came in her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. She did not have a nightmare of dying, she didn't. The pink-haired ninja then carefully walked towards an old mirror that was used when she was younger. The girl was expecting to see a war hardened ninja with proud eyes. Instead, she widened her eyes as time seemed to freeze as she stared.
Sakura was now staring at a girl who was not a chūnin, nonetheless a ninja. It was a toddler who examined herself in terror.
SH.
Sakura never really thought about what would happen when she died. Actually, that was a lie. When she was younger, she would fantasize of how her grandchildren would be by her side. She would be known a legend, much stronger than Tsunade herself. Sasuke would be waiting for her to join him to wherever he was. They would have married and had a child, and Naruto would be hokage. Everyone would have achieved war peace.
She would reminisce her life, thinking back of the past. There would be forgiveness and happiness before she slept for eternity. The pink-haired woman Sakura aspired to be would have died peacefully in the hands of the people she cared about.
Oh how terribly wrong Sakura had been.
Instead of her version of dying, her stomach had been forcefully squeezed out of her body with an arm inside of her abdomen. Blood oozed all around the ruptured hole that was created. The suffering she endured was too overwhelming and the most pain she had ever felt in her entire life of being a ninja. She had dodged too late.
Sakura gasped and tears spilled out of her eyes and she tried to look at him. At the person her sad, deranged lover had become. Heavy betrayal and silence filtered the air and it just wouldn't go away.
After a few agonizing seconds, the kunochi whimpered quietly, "S-Sasuke... I'll always care—" but she never finished. Sasuke swiftly pulled out his limb out of Sakura and threw her away from him. He didn't even look at her after walking towards Karin. She knew why he couldn't look at her, and it was something that she didn't fully understand before she closed her eyes. Regret.
In a heartbeat, his eyes had widened in remorse when he plunged his chidori inside of her flesh and Sakura had seen it. He didn't mean to kill her, he was just in the wrong state of mind and wasn't thinking clearly. Sasuke was still human, after all. Despite that, she didn't want to die, she just wanted to end the fighting between Naruto and Sasuke. In the end, she probably just made it worse. She was an idiot.
She sensed Kakashi near, watching the scene unfold and she cringed. He didn't get there in time. Naruto was probably going to get there soon too.
At least she was with the ninja she fell in love with from when they both were genin.
Sakura began to think of her parents, and Ino, and how she was going to miss them. Oh no. What would Tsunade think? They didn't deserve to mourn her death. Nobody did.
If the young girl hadn't come to for Sasuke by herself, than nothing major would have happened. She made a mistake.
As she drifted off and black dots started appearing in her vision, she reached towards the sky with shaking hands. It was a beautiful day with the sunshine gleaming down on the forest.
It was better than thinking about what she might've looked like at that instant. Sakura's arm quickly fell by her side with a thump and she knew then that she could no longer move.
It was only a matter of time before she would—
Her breathing became shallow and it was hard to concentrate clearly on what was happening. Sakura could hear screaming and noises around her.
Hands wrapped around her quickly and tried to keep her awake but she knew it was too late. Too much blood had been lost in a matter of minutes. She didn't even have half of her organs in her being anymore. It was a wonder how she was still awake and—
Naruto. He was right in front of her and he looked terrified. His eyes were tearing up and he clutched her arms. He was saying something to her but she could no longer hear.
She never even got to thank him for being there for her. If only she had treated him with respect and love sooner. If only she was there for him just a tad bit. That was when she truly started crying softly and tried to touch his face. She was going to die regretfully.
But she was glad that she was surrounded by people she treasured.
Her last words held so much meaning and yet it was just a simple sentence.
"I love you all so much."
ME.
Mayuko was surprised, in fact, she was flabbergasted. Never in her existence did she think that she would die peacefully. The young girl had always imagined that she would perish dramatically with unbearable sadness surrounding her. She thought her parents would be trembling with denial and wails. Her sister—Yumi would be holding her weak hand and telling her to keep living. She would not be ready to die and would have regrets.
She would feel powerless at the very end because that was exactly how she felt her entire life. Mayuko actually had a very different childhood from other people. She was diagnosed with lung cancer at a very young age due to her mother's constant smoking in the house. Her body was too weak to fight the tumor in her lungs from spreading no matter how much she tried to.
It was no use. But that didn't mean she was right about dying the way she thought.
Her family wasn't with her that night, but it was okay. Visiting hours in the hospital were closed and it was around midnight. Mayuko was laid on her bed slowly losing consciousness. At first she thought it to be just tiredness and a sign she needed to sleep, but it was heavier. It was like a force pulling her towards the darkness and she couldn't help but submit to the yearning.
After awhile she noticed she couldn't see or hear anymore. Then later on she couldn't even take full breaths, causing her to wheeze. Her eyes were closed and she couldn't really concentrate on what was happening. She just wanted to sleep already.
Mayuko felt at ease and there wasn't much pain since she was put on drugs. It was a quiet and comfortable way to move on, if she had an opinion.
She didn't dwell on how many regrets she couldn't do, but instead thought of the happy times where she was with her family. The brunette remembered how her family use to go out to restaurant every now and then. She reminisced how her older sibling had brought books and manga. It was a wonder how great her family was to her, even if it was only out of pity.
The girl loved them, she really did. The only thing she wanted for them now was to move on and be happy now that they didn't have a burden on their hands. She only wished that she could have at least help someone.
It was biting her in the back of her mind, but it was okay.
It would be okay. Her chant kept repeating like a broken record. Tears started forming and her body was completely numb. Even though no one was by Mayuko's side, she spoke the words of an optimist for the first time in her life.
"It would be... okay."
edited.
next update: 1/7/17
a/n: This idea just popped in my head and I got so excited. I always wanted Sakura to be a little more serious about her ninja career when she was younger and less love-crazed (like when she got older). Plus, it would kind of be interesting to see another Sakura time-travel fanfic, but with a twist: an oc.
Notes: Each chapter should be around 1,500 words. This fanfic starts out with the individuals before they meet, (which is important for character growth and subplots). I hope you'll still read if there are grammar mistakes and a cliche scene. I try to be realistic (because I suck at writing crack-fics).
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Sakura Haruno died by the hands of her lover, and yet when she opened her eyes again, it was like she awoken from a long and strange nightmare. But it was obviously not just a nightmare. It was the future of shinobi―her future.
•••
Mayuko Higa passed away from an incurable illness, and yet she had woken up with the eyes of another body and soul. She didn't know what was happening or who she was possessing, but she'd be damned if she was thought to be a ghost.
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