Introduction

Today would officially make it three weeks since Madara's Eye of the Moon plan succeeded. Three weeks since he became the Shinju's jinchūriki and put the entire world as they knew it under his control. His rule. Now, with all of the great allied Shinobi Forces at his feet, he naturally became the ruler of the new world. He called it his "Utopia". It didn't surprise anyone when he sent in his troops to capture and kill all of the Konohagakure shinobi. He'd promised to shroud it in darkness, after all. What better way to do that than to create a massive tragedy? Turns out, he hadn't just meant the village. Madara twisted the entire world into a dark, ugly, unrecognizable landmass until it fit his demented needs. The land of fire was the first to go. After that, he gradually worked his way up to the top.

Three weeks. Madara had done it all in three weeks.

Sakura had been lucky enough to escape in time from the hidden village before the second wave of ninja hit. She wouldn't have ever even thought about it, but Tsunade had given her an order to flee. At first, it had enraged her because that was her family and her friends out there fighting so why shouldn't she be out there—and then there was that pleading look the Hokage had given her. Her teacher had fucking pleaded with her. Indirectly, yet all the same. Then everything had become clear in that moment, opening her livid green eyes. Sakura had actually examined the large gashes and amount of blood seeping out of Tsunade's wounds, deciphering almost too late what exactly that look meant. No matter what she or anyone did, they weren't going to win the war. It was obvious, no matter how much she'd tried to deny it. So she'd done the only thing left to do—the only thing that could possibly give the future any chance of hope.

The kunoichi fled, hot, burning tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. Leaving behind her, a charred and screaming village in her wake.

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Chapter 1:

Sakura's eyes shot open and she sat up abruptly to glance around at her surroundings. Her eyes met with darkness and for a moment, she panicked. Jumping out of her spot on the cold rocky ground, she immediately withdrew into a battle stance. With her arms raised and feet spread, she narrowed her eyes toward the exit of the cavern. A murky red light beamed through, carrying along a cold breeze of air that reeked of newly burned ashes. The kunoichi's nose crinkled at the horrid smell and she wondered if those ashes belonged to someone that was once living.

In her sleep, she'd heard hushed whispers nearby, clear as day. Now, everything was suspiciously silent and it was starting to worry her.

Sure to not let her guard down, the girl bit out scathingly, "Show yourself, you cowards! Don't think for one moment that just because I'm asleep, you can catch me off guard!"

The only response she received was the sound of water dripping eerily from the ceiling above. Sakura remained locked in her stance for a few second before eventually lowering her arms to her waist in resignation. She sighed deeply, running a hand through her pink strands. She was seriously reconsidering her mental state. Those voices had been vaguely familiar, which led her to believe that they were simply a memory that she had confused with reality. There were no chakra signatures nearby within at least a five-mile radius.

You're going senile, Sakura..

She swallowed in an attempt to ease her dry throat. That was the fifth time already that she'd dreamed of that night. Sakura wished she could sign herself up for psychiatrist appointments. Were things like the old days, Ino would've laughed in her face at the very thought of it. Naruto would fret over her mental state and watch over her while she recovered; and Kakashi-sensei would awkwardly put a hand on her shoulder and recite helpful advice like he usually did when she was troubled with something.

A bitter laugh escaped her lips. But oh how things had changed. Sakura no longer lived in her amazing and peaceful leaf village. Her new home was a creepy-as-fuck looking cave located somewhere up North in Earth country. While it probably wasn't the coziest of places, at least she was out of sight from any of Madara's bloodthirsty shinobi. Besides, it was hard to ask for more when she'd already survived both Konohagakure attacks. There was even a civilian village that she often visited for supplies and news updates. The most recent one was of no surprise—three days ago, Madara had announced to the public that any shinobi who wasn't in his army would be slaughtered upon spot. Apparently, he'd even provided them with an example to further prove his point.

Sakura scowled, wanting nothing more than to rip his throat out. However, since that was impossible at the time being, she needed to focus on her main priority—food. Which meant she'd have to make another trip into town again, which was risky. Each time she snuck in, her chances of being killed increased. Even more so with that new law around.. But, despite that, she had to go either way. It was the only opportunity for knowledge. As long as she was stealthy, no one would even notice her.

Turning around, Sakura kicked her pathetic excuse of a sleeping bag over to the side with the rest of her supplies. A lone bottle of sake rattled against the opposite wall. She frowned and walked across the damp floor, bending over to pick it up in her hands. Emerald eyes studied the light container. Empty. That was another thing on her list that she needed to buy more of, she noted, standing back up and letting the glass bottle drop to the ground. She bent over to grab her bag, slinging it over her shoulder unceremoniously. If anyone dared pick a fight with her, she'd quietly deal with them before they caused too big of a ruckus. Simple.

She pushed a stray strand of oily hair out of her face and turned back around toward the entrance once more. Sakura hated going outside now, but there was no other option. Picking her unmoving feet up off of the ground, she willed herself over to the exit. The red light penetrated her vision, blinding her for a moment. Then, she saw what she was afraid of. Dead trees littered the narrow cliffed valley along with a murky thick fog that had her holding her breath. It was still the same as last time, yet, somehow worse. Madara's army must've been nearby. She'd have to run again soon.

Well, shit. Sakura thought to herself ironically, I feel like a missing-nin now. She never thought she'd ever live to say that. It was funny, in a humorless kind of way.

With a huff, the kunoichi shook her head and continued on, paying no heed to the blood crimson moon above. The girl didn't feel up to being mind-controlled by a psychopath today, or any other day for that matter.

Sakura hadn't even took two steps when a shuriken suddenly zipped through the air just above her head. The kunoichi immediately came to a stop and crouched down with a kunai. Her eyes narrowed in anger. This was her first close-up encounter with one of Madara's men. She considered running, but it would only take her back the way she'd come which unfortunately, was a dead end. She had no other option except to fight them. If things got too bad, she'd just escape when she found an opening.

She blinked as a rush of pain erupted throughout her body. An agonizing burning sensation numbed her lower abdomen. Her henge flickered and she clutched at her side, gritting her teeth in distress. Sakura quickly brought her hand up to her face to judge the damage and let out a hysterical cry. Not only was the former pale hand coated in dark red, but it also painted her arm and dripped down to the dull rock below. They had gotten her good. She hadn't even seen that attack coming. If the battle continued like this, she'd be dead in no time. Sakura needed to get out of there.

Although, not without causing at least some damage first.

With a snarl, her henge disappeared completely so that she could direct her chakra into her feet. Two shinobi lept down from their postions on top of the cliff and readied their shuriken threateningly. However, they didn't expect for Sakura to literally kick a large boulder at the one on the right, who had no time to dodge until it was too late. The rock hit one of the stone walls, leaving behind nothing but a gruesome blood splatter and some ugly figure laying in a heap on top of the rock.

She grimaced at the sight, turning her attention back to the other ninja. His face was concealed by a mask, but Sakura could tell from his stance that he was hesitant to attack again.

"Well? What are you waiting for? I thought you were going to kill me," she gloated, a smug smile playing at her lips. The medic knew that taunting this guy was a bad idea, but she was feeling victorious for once in a long time. A part of her wanted to savor the feeling.

He was on her before she could bat an eyelash. She held up an arm to counterattack, fully expecting him to lash out on her with his fist, but instead met with a sharp kunai that implanted itself into her forearm. Sakura's eyes widened and she jumped back, gasping in pain. Blood poured out of her fresh cut and it continued to pour down her arm. Her movements were unnaturally sloppy, that much was obvious by now. Was it from all that sake? Maybe she shouldn't have drank away her sorrows. Now, she'd given him an unfair advantage.

Sakura cradled her bleeding arm, fighting back the habitual urge to heal her injuries. It wouldn't be good if she used too much chakra and alerted Madara of her location. Ever since she'd learned that the most talented shinobi were being hunted down and murdered, it didn't take long for her to realize how the madman was tracking them down. His new world allowed him to not only control everyone inhabited within it, but he could also sense chakra signatures from hundreds of miles away. And if he found her, one of the last surviving Konoha nin..

Dammit!

The kunoichi quickly dodged another attack that was aimed for her shoulder. For some reason, it seemed like the ninja's attacks were getting faster and her's were getting slower. Sakura knew she hadn't lost thatmuch blood. Something was definitely wrong. The sky was getting darker and her mind was beginning to fog up. Could alcohol completely numb your senses and make you feel like you had to fight for dominance to control your own body? No, the pink haired girl had been drunk before and it felt nothing like this.

Her face twisted in fury. What the hell is going on? Why can't I move the way I want to?!

Then, everything suddenly stilled. The enemy shinobi froze, the wind froze, she froze. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Sakura understood what this meant and it wasn't good at all. So, she inwardly screamed at her body to move, to do something already! Panic flashed in her emerald eyes when she saw the ninja who was in front of her collapse to the ground as if he were but a mere puppet and his strings had been snapped. She pushed harder, willing her legs to move, to no avail. The medic was no longer in control of her own body. Someone was controlling her, forcing her to stand perfectly still in that exact spot.

All at once, terrifying realization dawned on her. She could sense a dark chakra signature approaching from ahead that could only belong to one person. The one person left in the world that could make her hair instantly stand up straight. The girl's face went pale and all of the color drained away from her expression completely.

Madara had actually managed to find her, after all of those weeks. And judging by the sheer force of his chakra, he was ecstatic.

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A.N.

Bleh, I don't like author notes clogging up my story, so I'm just going to delete what was here before. Thanks for reading!