A/N: Greetings my fellow fanfictionians! If you don't know who I am, then please visit my profile since that's what its purpose is for. If you do know me, then please proceed and read this humble beginning to what will hopefully be a truly magnificent story. I've decided to abandon my other story. It wasn't going anywhere and it had not direction. But I promise this story will because I've created a very detailed outline for it and I'm very confident that it will finish amazingly. Feel free to love it, hate it or feel whatever about it but don't forget, it won't improve unless you provide me with good quality feedback. In other words, please review! Enjoy! =)
Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own the amazing thing that is Naruto or any of its subsidiaries. But I do own this plot so please don't steal it!
Prologue
She was uprooted from the ground as if she weighed nothing more than a speck of dust. She swirled around and around in a raging tempest at a remarkable speed, unable to even lift a finger. For miles on end, the only thing she could see was blaring white light, which shouldn't be possible.
From her proximity, the blast should have blown her to smithereens and oblivion. She should have been totally decimated with no trace whatsoever. The blast created by the tailed beasts was catastrophic and yet, her body remained intact and unscathed.
She continued to swirl in circles, until a sudden calm washed over her, and her eyelids involuntarily drooped closed. As she succumbed to the deep realms of sleep, her body slowly descended towards the ground. The white light disappeared and all that encompassed her was a deep darkness.
Chapter 1 Poisoned
All around her, people parted and cheered wildly for the two figures strolling proudly down the street. Both of them wore identical Konohagakure forehead protectors and annoyingly smug smirks. She rolled her eyes when the volume of the villagers' cheers increased as the two figures passed by. She was sure the amount of praise they were receiving from the Konoha citizens would inflate their already huge egos.
The first figure was a boy walking with his hands locked securely together behind his head. He was around her age and average height with spiky blond hair, slightly tanned skin, a whiskered face and friendly ocean blue eyes. He wore a bright, orange jumpsuit and matching orange pants. His name was Naruto Uzumaki and he was the only son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and Konoha's Red-Hot Habanero, Kushina Uzumaki. She smiled softly as a warm feeling filled her heart thinking about how loved he was by the village. He was an incredibly fierce friend and a compassionate human being. He always searched for the good in people and completely disregarded the bad. He was also quite a handsome young man, having inherited the dashing looks of his equally handsome father. After a few more seconds of staring at Naruto she shifted her gaze to the figure walking lazily to his right.
The second figure, walking with his hands stuffed coolly in his shorts' pockets, was also a boy and was—what Konoha dubbed him—Naruto's "counterpart." He was taller with blue streaked raven locks that framed the sides of his face, and spiked up at the back similar to a chicken's ass. He had smooth ivory skin and deep, smoldering onyx eyes. They were an endless abysmal black that seemed to engulf a person's soul and hold it captive to his will. He wore a navy blue, high-collared shirt and clean white shorts. His name was Sasuke Uchiha, youngest son of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha, brother of Itachi Uchiha and a member of the Uchiha clan, one of the ninja world's most ancient and respected clans. He was dubbed as Naruto's "counterpart" because unlike Naruto's eccentric personality, he was mostly placid. Around her young girls and an unhealthy amount of older women screamed and blushed heavily as Sasuke passed by. Other than belonging to one of the most prestigious clans in the world, he was blessed with extremely good looks. But she knew there was more to a book than its front cover. Beneath Sasuke's gorgeous exterior there was a gentle spirit and a kind heart. Not to mention, he was also a gifted ninja and received the highest grades in the academy.
There should have been a third figure strutting down the streets with Naruto and Sasuke. The third figure should have been a girl with a curvaceous body, silky silver tresses, creamy porcelain skin, a rosy complexion, plump pink lips, a button nose and mesmerizing violet eyes. She was adored by all the males in Konoha for her otherworldly beauty which would have only enhanced with age. She belonged to another prestigious shinobi clan, the Senju, and was constantly requested by numerous noble families for arranged marriages. Aside from her goddess-like looks, she was a benevolent humanitarian and a strong kunoichi. She was endowed with many enviable qualities and yet she breathed her last during the final stage of the chunin exams.
Like Naruto and Sasuke, she qualified for the final portion of the exams by defeating her contender. But unlike Naruto and Sasuke, she was slipped a poison from an overly jealous girl obsessed with Sasuke right before she began her final fight. So in a sense, it was Sasuke's fault that she died a dishonorable and premature death. Unfortunately, Sasuke and the girl were betrothed and would have married once they both turned twenty-one. To add salt to the gaping wound, they both had strong feelings of attraction for each other and were constantly found laughing and smiling together; they were happy. But that was the key word, "were." Thinking about Sasuke and the girl together caused a painful thump to pound in her chest but she brushed it off as Naruto and Sasuke neared her spot among the crowd.
Her eardrums almost burst when the crowd's cheers and yells reached a crescendo and became deafening. She had to cover her ears to ensure they wouldn't explode, especially from the high pitched squeals of delight emitting from the throats of the lusting females around her. Sometimes, she cursed the two boys' attractiveness. It brought them pleasure but it brought others ear-splitting pain.
As Sasuke passed her she couldn't help but stare into his unfathomable pools of obsidian, and before she knew it their gazes were locked in an unbreakable connection. Even as he kept walking ahead he didn't break their staring contest. He simply turned his head to continue holding her soul captive. Suddenly, an amused smirk formed on his lips sparking a horrible chain reaction. His smirk caused the pitch of the screaming fan girls to raise another octave, which then caused her to cringe her eyes shut and grind her teeth together out of pure annoyance and a desire to rip their mouths off. She cracked one of her eyes open fast enough to catch what appeared to be Sasuke chuckling, judging from the way his shoulders shook uncontrollably. Impulsively, her teeth ground together with more pressure, and she began formulating a wicked plan to extract revenge for the discomfort his mere presence caused her.
She was about to roughly shove her way through the crowd and escape to the sanctity of the quiet training grounds, when a pair of strong arms swooped her up and off the ground. She barely had time to scream out of surprise before they teleported and materialized in a field of vibrant green grass and colorful sweet-smelling flowers. She closed her eyes when they teleported so she didn't see who snatched her. But upon opening them, her mouth fell open in utter shock. She would have never envisioned the person carrying her to carry her, nonetheless transport her to a lovely field littered with pretty foliage and caressed by cool gentle breezes.
"Better?" She felt a deep blush warm up her cheeks as she unashamedly ogled the man carrying her. His voice was a smooth baritone and made butterflies erupt inside of her stomach in a flurry of beating wings. He had a beautiful white smile and equally beautiful sparkling ocean blue eyes.
"Y-Yeah. I mean, yes Hokage-sama!" In her mind she berated herself for stuttering in front of the Hokage. She must look like a stupid, infatuated fan girl. To feel better she repeatedly told herself that it was perfectly natural for women to act like complete dunces around very attractive men.
"Sorry about the boys. They're a little in over themselves right now." He gave her an apologetic smile which caused her blush to deepen. She gave him a nod in response before he gently set her down onto the soft earth.
"Kami, if Naruto looks anything like you in the future, I'm going to regret never accepting his offers to take me out on dates." She realized what she said too late. She quickly averted her eyes downwards and tapped her two index fingers together similar to a certain bashful Hyuga heiress, but her rosy cheeks betrayed her.
"Well, I hope he'll look like me. I am his father." She looked up and discovered mirth filled ocean blue eyes. He appeared to be unaffected by her slightly rude comment. He truly was Naruto's father in every sense.
"I didn't know Naruto asked you out on dates. That boy, he didn't even feel the need to tell me. I'm going to talk to him later." A disappointed frown replaced his beautiful smile after his statement about Naruto.
"Ah, Hokage-sama he-"
"Please, just call me Minato." He cut her off with a bright smile once again adorning his handsome face.
"Er, Minato-san, he didn't legitimately ask me out on dates. I, er, kind of dreamed it?" She was hoping her explanation didn't sound too much like a question, which would implicate that she was delirious and didn't know what she was talking about. She could see the gears in Minato's head spinning for a second before a mischievous light lit up across his face.
"Oh, so you're attracted to Naruto so much that you dream about him."
"Eh! No, it's not like that. You see-" She was about to rant about how her relationship with Naruto wasn't near that level when Minato suddenly placed his large warm hand on top of her head and ruffled her hair.
"Haha it's alright Sakura. I understand." She felt herself staring at him with wide anxious eyes. Somehow, she felt as if the Fourth Hokage truly understood what she was talking about but quickly dispelled that notion. It wasn't possible that he knew about her secret because she hadn't told a single soul. But what if he did know? An odd sensation began to grow in the pit of her stomach. If he knew her secret, then that probably meant others with minds equally as sharp as his knew as well and that was bad. No one was allowed to know her secret. It would trigger a series of unfortunate events for her!
"Sorry, Minato-san, but I must leave now. I'm sure my mother is worrying about my whereabouts. I was just out to retrieve some ingredients she needed to cook my celebration dinner." It was true. The only reason she was out in the first place was to run an errand for her ecstatic mother. Naruto and Sasuke weren't the only genins to pass the chunin exams. She passed too and with much ease. Unfortunately, she was at the wrong place at the wrong time hence, the reason why she almost lost her hearing a few minutes ago. She bowed lowly at her waist as a sign of respect for her village leader before turning around to head back home. But she barely took her third step before Minato's baritone voice reached her ears and stopped her in her tracks.
"Sakura, wait!" She swiveled back around on her current spot to give him her full attention.
"Yes, Minato-san?" In her mind, she wondered what could be so important that he would want her to wait.
"Naruto's mother, Kushina, and I are hosting a party tonight in celebration of all the genins who passed yesterday's chunin exams. That's another reason why I rescued you from those insane girls moments ago. I want to invite you and your family to tonight's party." So that's what's so important. She searched his eyes for validity and found total genuineness. She felt uneasy about attending the party but what the hay, it was a party celebrating the genins who passed and she wasn't about to let Naruto and Sasuke steal all the glory. Plus, it was an opportunity to actually meet and become acquainted with them so she wasn't about to let it slip through her fingers.
"Sure, we'd love to attend!" A rumbling crack resembling lightning flashing across storm clouds reverberated inside her ears before suddenly appearing in front of a freshly painted red door. She quickly rotated three-hundred-and-sixty degrees to analyze her surroundings and discovered that she was standing in front of her home's front door. Confusion flooded her mind and then slowly flowed down the drain as recognition finally dawned on her and a giggle escaped past her lips. Konoha's Yellow Flash really was just a flash.
Pale yellowish rays from the moon bathed the forest of towering rocky spires with soft, gentle light. Large looming clouds drifted slowly under the stars, and cast ominous shadows on the face of the earth. The chilly night air was heavy with the scent of wet earth and metallic minerals. The melancholic tunes of nocturnal animals, singing to the round bright sphere suspended in the night sky, penetrated through the eerie silence. The atmosphere surrounding the village was tense, foreshadowing the horrific events about to unfold. A hooded figure silently scaled the village's massive stone walls and upon reaching the top, gazed at the sleeping village with a sinister smile painted onto his chalky, white face. His long slimy tongue licked his thin lips once before he descended into the great hidden village and commenced its destruction.