proof of life Chapter 1: out of time, slowly fading, a naruto fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Do you believe in destiny? Or...fate?

Well,

Do you?

You have to answer... because time is running out.

Tick, Tock

Proof of Life

(out of time, slowly fading)

He was in love.

She was in love.

It was perfect, so…beautiful.

"Sasuke-kun, can I… sleep with you tonight?" the teen in front of her raised his eyebrows in suspicion, ready to tell her 'no' when he saw the scared, fearful look in her eyes. He decided to go against his decision.

"…Alright." She smiled with relief, and started walking towards his bed. When she got to her destination in a few strides, he stood up slowly, and left his bed. She glanced at him, confused.

"Where are you going?"

"To the couch."

"Why?"

At this question, Sasuke couldn't help but look at Sakura with a blank look. "I don't think I can sleep with you there, Sakura." The said girl pouted, then frowned. Her eyes narrowed, and her shoulders slumped at Sasuke's rejection.. There was after all, absolutely nothing wrong with sleeping in the same bed, for Sakura. Besides, Sasuke was the reason why she wanted to sleep here in the first place. She needed comfort.

She was scared.

She knew what was coming. She knew it would happen soon.

"Why can't you?" she added, her eyes starting to crystallize. There was no time left. They would be taking her away soon. She had to have some time with Sasuke. She wanted to be with him more, especially now.

The said boy paused for a moment, thinking of a good reason. After a while, he shook his head, and started treading towards her. Sakura smiled lightly at her victory, and snuggled him, burying her head in his chest. Sasuke was very surprised at the contact, but then again, this was Sakura, and she always tended to be different.

He relaxed.

Sakura, noticing Sasuke's response, closed her eyes.

She was going to disappear.

And it wasn't a time off disappearance. It was for forever. She was never supposed to be here in the first place. She was always, always meant to be somewhere else.

But she didn't want to be somewhere else, she wanted to be here.

Here, wrapped up in Sasuke's face. His solid warmth, spreading through her body, and his green, green eyes looking into her soul. He could always understand her. Somehow, he knew just how she felt and how to make her better. He was…her soul mate. He could always find his way back to her, and it surprised her how he did.

Literally.

After all, it was rare for two people who were once in love with each other revive their past feelings. It was rare that they have actually bonded more than thrice. Heck, it was rare how they even met in the first place.

It couldn't have been fate.

The Universe does not give anyone that kind of privilege. It was improper, and illegal. It was treachery.

Yet here she was –here they were –together with the person she loves the most. They did not love each other. They were in love with each other. They were in dreamland, having the best time of their lives, smiling, laughing, giving each other care…

…It would not last.

Because just like how dreams were never meant to last forever, their love was also not meant to be everlasting. No one's love was.

When you die, you don't go to heaven or hell, or anywhere like that. Those places were for true beings respectively. They belonged to their world, just like how we belonged to our Universe.

We are reborn. Brought back to life, by the world. However, in exchange for being given life, we are to forget –the people we love, the people who loved us back, our past experiences, the things that made us stronger –everything. This was the price to pay for all our sins, and mistakes.

And don't think that there must be someone who has no sin. Everyone in the Universe has committed a sin, the moment they were created. The moment when their soul –no matter how old –chose to leave Heaven or Hell, their life had been decided.

No one actually lived in the Universe at first. But then, there were some who did not want the kind of life they had in Hell/Heaven. For Heaven, there were those who didn't want to be pure, but they didn't want to be a sinner either. Same goes for Hell. In answer to this problem, the rulers of Paradise and Hell decided to put them in a barren land, where they are free to do as they wish.

Those who chose to go to Universe were banned to return. That was something that could never be removed. It was for eternity, for life and for death. Thus, all of them were to return to this world again, and again, no matter how much they wished to obtain salvation.

Everyone was to be born again and again. Everyone was to die again, and again. It was a never-ending cycle. It was punishment for having abandoned paradise.

Sakura was someone whom you could call unique. For that reason, the Universe was constantly removing her from this world.

She was always getting into accidents. But in a way, they weren't accidents. It was all planned by the world. The Universe wanted her gone.

She knew this would happen of course. This was a consequence she was sure she'd have to experience. However, if she thought about which was more scarier –life-threatening accidents, or forgetting about Sasuke –the choice was obvious.

She would rather spend her time with Sasuke, then die, rather than to forget about him.

Now, most people would think she's stupid for choosing love over life. But they didn't know anything about Sasuke and her. They didn't know about the things she knew. It may sound suspicious, but it was the truth.

Unlike the rest, she remembers her...past selves. In all of them, Sasuke was present. And although, he wasn't always her romantic partner, he was always still there. That fact gave her the idea that Sasuke really was the one.

In their earlier reincarnations, she was a lowly maid, and Sasuke was a high-ranked earl. Even if it sounded ridiculous and cliche, as she once pointed out to herself, it was the truth before.

It was life.

It wasn't love at first sight. Actually, it was more of a hate at first sight. Sakura hated Sasuke for he was an earl, which in her book was described as arrogant, self-righteous jerks who thinks the world cannot live without them. For Sasuke, it was much more simple. She was a maid, and people such as him, do not associate with them.

She remembered having listened to him, playing the piano. She asked him why his piece was sad, and it took him awhile to answer, more than he should've, she thought. "It's because I'm alone." And she could picture herself replying genuinely to his words, "Then, I'll be by your side. That way you won't be alone anymore."

Their romance began to unwind from there.

It continued on for several years –with their love growing even more at every second –until she started to feel nauseous. She started to feel…sick.

He insisted on getting her to a doctor, but often she would refuse, saying that he was over-reacting and she was fine. However, she got worse as weeks passed, and no sooner, she found herself unable to stand. It was at that time when Sasuke took it as the last straw. He told her how foolish she was for not worrying about herself, and then took her to the doctor.

She was infected with a terminal disease, with no less than a few months to live.

He was crying, she noted. Not loudly, or desperate for relief, he was not the type to do that. He was crying in a kind of elegant way –as she expected. Well, she didn't think he would cry. Was she that important? –with his tears falling silently down to his chin, and onto the cold, wooden floors.

She recalled wiping tears from his face, muttering promises of forever, and apologies filled with regret, when he looked up –to see her –his tears fell even more. She then wondered how it was possible that her face became wet with tears; they were facing each other so it was impossible for Sasuke's to have landed on her cheeks.

It took her more than a minute and half to realize that she was crying herself, and she could do nothing but wrap her arms around him, clinging to her precious lover. There was one thing on her mind, back then.

(I don't want to die.)

A few weeks later –which were much, much more shorter than months –she felt herself being pulled towards the darkness.

The next cycles weren't any better. In her next life, she was a princess, and he was a knight. Neither of them remembered each other, yet both felt weirdly connected.

"Do I know you?"

"I'm afraid not, princess."

"Then… why do I feel I do?"

"…I do not know, your Highness."

"Do you feel the same?"

He paused, hesitating. This princess was quite strange, asking him such a blunt question yet, he felt that she was right. Perhaps they did know each other. Oh well, he thought. There was no harm done in telling the truth.

Finally, "Yes."

"What's your name?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Oh. My name's Sakura!"

He smirked, "I know, princess." She frowned in response. "You know what, call me Sakura. Somehow, it's odd to hear you say that. It doesn't feel right."

He hesitated once again. Such familiarity was not an appropriate action, especially for the princess of Konoha. He glanced in her direction. She was staring at him, her eyes glimmering with hope.

"…Alright, Sakura."

And so, their tragic love story repeated -with Sasuke being killed in war, and Sakura wallowing in the depths of despair. –for a second time.

But this time, she was the one grieving, and he was the one leaving.

It happened again, of course. Just like the last two, neither of them recalled of their previous relationship. This one was much more gentle –they both died together in a car accident –compared to the past ones.

And then again, for the fourth time, they were reincarnated. However, in this world, their love was not developed, at least, not enough. Sasuke was one of those involved in the tragic mass murder, and Sakura was bitter with what-ifs and could've beens. This didn't last long though.

She married a blonde man named, Naruto, and they got themselves two daughters named after the month and day they both met. This just goes to show that they also had their shortcomings, and that they weren't exactly the ultimate pair. They made mistakes too. Although, she could never call her romance with Naruto a mistake.

She was still happy with him.

The fifth one was the start of change for their relationship.

She, Sakura, could remember everything that happened in her past lives. This disturbed, and made her feel incomplete. After all, how could she ever forget and move on from someone who gave her so much love? So much happiness?

It wasn't that long before she met him. He was an orphan sent to live in the orphanage she was currently staying at.

("Hello! My name's Sakura. What's yours?"

"...Sasuke."

"Oh! Well then, let's be great friends, Sasuke-kun!" )

They connected and, well… fell in love.

Of course, the Universe was not happy. Because like mentioned earlier, you cannot fall in love with the same soul. How many times has she committed this sin?

Because of her surprising close brushes with death, she became very careful and alert, paranoid, so to speak. She would make sure that the places, she and Sasuke went out to, was safe. She kept a keen eye on everything, never taking risks of going somewhere dangerous, even though it would've made a fun and positive turn for their relationship. Through it all, she had neglected Sasuke.

She was too preoccupied with staying together and not dying, she was not able to deepen their relationship to the point of their first and second. Sasuke broke up with her, saying that it just wasn't working out anymore. She agreed, because she thought, that he was right and that this was the only way they'd finally be able to live in peace.

She regretted her choice.

A few weeks later, she decided to talk to him about it. It seems that she was not the only one who thought they made the wrong choice. Then, they were back together.

This time, they stayed strong. Married each other. No kids yet, but they were connected now more than ever. They were so happy, filled with an abundant amount of joy. They had each other, they had each other, and that soon became all that mattered.

("Sasuke-kun, I really love you."

"Hn."

"Whaaaat?! That's all you're going to say to me? What about 'I love you too'?

He smirked, "Aa, I love you too."

Sakura grinned and leaned in to kiss him.)

She should've known their happiness wouldn't last. It somehow, couldn't.

On a trip to the beach, they decided to ride a boat. Sasuke didn't want to at first –"It's dangerous." –but she was always stubborn, and she regretted being that way for the first time in her life. "No, it's not! We'll be safe! Please, Sasuke-kun!"

At her pleading, puppy-eyed request, he complied.

It was all calm at first. The both of them were having a great time, until a hole made itself known in the boat. How did that happen? They were far from the seashore, and Sakura cursed herself for being such an idiot. For not having thought of being careful in the first place. She was too lost in her joy. She forgot about the weird things that always seemed to happen whenever they were together.

She never understood why. Just that, in all her lives, she could never stay that long with Sasuke. They were always separated by the death. She wondered if there love was actually forbidden, or maybe they weren't meant to be, but she thought against it, when she thought how ludicrous that sounded. She was perfect for Sasuke, as he was for her.

There was no time for useless thoughts now. The boat was sinking.

"Calm down, Sakura. We'll be okay." he reassures her with a calm voice.

But they weren't. Because when the boat sank, and there were no lifesavers, they were forced to drown. She was taken in by the dark to be taken to a void place, for the fourth time.

The Universe was cruel, having let her stay in her world long enough to see how Sasuke was like, when he woke up to find that she was dead. Unlike her, he was blessed to have been rescued by a few fishermen, who noticed a tipped off boat. They rushed towards the boat, and found Sasuke. He was still breathing, his heart still beating.

Alive.

That made her happy, of course. He could continue on living the rest of his life for her as well.

She was stupid to have thought that Sasuke would react the way she wanted him to. The next thing she knew, he was screaming, crying, pleading, begging for her to come back, to be found.

She never was. Because her body was now somewhere deep in the ocean, and the her who was standing right next to him was nothing but a spiritual figure. She was not visible to the naked eye.

She was the unfortunate one, because the waves made her drift farther than she would've liked.

She watched as everything happened. Sasuke's despair, his apologies -she didn't understand why though, it was her fault after all.

"Sasuke-kun, what…are you doing?!" she gasped breathlessly. She has tried to make him stop what he was doing. Tried to stop him from going to where his destination lies, but her cries proved to be fruitless. Here he was, standing in front of the same sea she spent her last time with him.

He was walking towards the water, his eyes staring at the vast horizon, dead straight on believing he was coming to where she was. "Stop! Sasuke-kun, stop! Don't do it! Please, live!" He couldn't hear her.

"…Live for me!" His head snapped back, as if he just heard something, but then he turned and shook his head.

He couldn't hear her.

He couldn't hear her, and he was going to die.

His breath got caught in his throat as the water left him struggling, his human instincts kicking in. But he forced himself to stop. Forced himself to accept what was about to become of him. Forced himself to believe he would finally meet her again.

He got what he wanted –death –but she never got hers.

When she was wrapped up in the black abyss –the place you go to after you die. The very place where your memories are erased.–everything came to her. The Universe's beliefs, thoughts, plans, everything. She didn't know how or why. She just felt them.

That was how she knew the anger that bubbled up in the Universe, because she always disobeyed the laws.

That was how she knew the Universe blamed her for the things that changed because of her constant romance with Sasuke.

That was how Sakura knew the Universe's plan to erase her soul –her very core and existence –if she failed to obey and respect the laws in this life.

She knew she was going to disappear from this world... and no one would remember her.

Not even Sasuke.

Tick...

...Tock.

Time's up.

Ugh, the cliché! Sorry 'bout that. The idea of the Universe removing her from the world came from the anime, Amnesia. The rest, pretty much belongs to me.

Reviews are love.

Oh, I got that phrase from Darkpetal21. It probably belongs to her, I'm not really sure who started it.