A/N: Yes this is a time travel story. And if you don't like Sakura being strong then I suggest that you stop reading and go jump off a cliff. And I swear this is different and I know many of you have read time travel stories that SWEAR that they are different but I'm pretty sure that this is one story you wouldn't have read anywhere else. Thank you very much.
This is canon but I'm not sure it's going to follow the ongoing Naruto chapters.
IGNORE THE FOLLOWING NOTE:
Notes1: All those other time travel stories are the same and I am so tired of reading the same thing over and over and over again. It all goes the same way: Sakura goes back in time. She either suddenly becomes all strong or she pretends to be a stupid fan-girl but is not one really and then she magically saves Sasuke and Naruto, stops Sasuke from leaving Konoha, Sasuke falls in love with her, either Kakashi or someone else finds out about her or sometimes they don't, she tells Sasuke the Itachi is not the bad guy, they all kill Danzo and Madara, and then everything is good and everyone is happy again. AND I AM SO BORED OF THIS SHIT! AND SOMEHOW THEY ALL MAKE SAKURA SOME WEAK LITTLE GIRL WHO STILL MANAGES TO GET EMOTIONAL EVERYTIME SHE TALKS TO SASUKE. I MEAN WHAT THE HELL? For once I want to read a story which is awesome. Or maybe I'm just not looking in the right place. Anyone have awesome time-travel stories I could read?
Title: Alive for another day
Author: the Shutterbug
Summary: /AU. NaruSaku/ A desperate attempt to reverse time and fix everything that had gone drastically wrong results in something that doesn't fit the original plan. But the past is not the same as it once was and now it's up to Sakura to rewrite a new future. /Non-Uchiha massacre. A time-travel story/
Pairing: NaruSaku and other pairings (same old, same old)
Genre: Adventure, romance and hurt/comfort.
Progress: In-complete.
Declaimer:
I don't own Naruto nor do I want to 'cuz why the hell is Sakura so weak? Meh.
Dedication: To all the other time travel stories out there and no I haven't stolen your idea!
Drip. Drip. Drip.
The room was dark except for the small light the sprinkled in through the window. The light shown through the translucent folds which hung above the window. The curtains were torn; practically shattered, dirty full of dry dust with coated the whole room. Cobwebs hung on the corners of the small room. In the centre was a small yellow bulb, half broken. Half of the glass hung to the base desperately.
The room wasn't furnished, only a small desk, an old wooden chair stood in one corner of the room, looking as if it could fall down any minute. A moderately huge bed stood in the center, pushed against the wall. The sheets did not share the same covering of dust that the rest of the room had. Instead, the sheets were almost clean, crumpled up to one side.
The bed had been recently used.
The wooden door creaked open, making an old rackety sound. A person entered with a plastic bag in one hand, the other holding a long katana very loosely before dropping it in the corner. The katana slid down, falling flat on the floor making a soft sound of clashing metal but the figure had already moved to the modest bed and had seated itself on one corner.
Haruno Sakura gently peeled open the bag and pulled out a small apple. It wasn't fresh but it wasn't rotten either. Edible, she had already gotten used to eating this type of food. After all, she had basically been doing this for almost four to five years now. The dirty rooms, the below mediocre food and the constant moving was something she was used to. Life after war, she had gotten used to it, had gotten used to the poverty, the pain and the anguish. After all, she wasn't the only one suffering.
The world was in turmoil and there was nothing she could do about it.
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Chapter 1: Renaissance
Moving on is very simple
It's what you leave behind
The makes it so difficult.
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"Not many people come here"
The door creaked open and a small old man entered the study. The cane he carried with him made soft sounds against the wooden floor as he moved forward. The bright blub above them swayed to and fro casting shadows on the walls.
"I heard you have something for me, a mission."
Rolling the glass bottle she had just picked up in her hand, Sakura shifted from one foot to the other. The glass had small engravings on it. Beautiful flowers bloomed on the corners of its mouth. A small tinge of pink colour on its base was highlighted by the green around it. It had been the first thing that had caught her eye when she had entered this room. A few glass paintings hung on the wall. Books were shattered all around the room. Most were pushed against the mall to make space for movement. A lonely desk with a lamplight sat in the middle with books stacked on it.
"They were right about you. You're hard to get hold of. I've been trying for months now when an old trusted friend pointed me in the right direction. Guess you really don't want to be found much do you?"
"I don't have any reason to be," placing the glass bottle on the side of the desk; Sakura raised her head to look at the man in front of her. His gray hair was tied up in a ponytail, wrinkles covered his face, and age had gotten to him. Her eyes met his, the man had brilliant blue eyes, reminded her of someone she had known a long time ago. But those trivial things didn't matter anymore.
His left eye was unfocused, dead.
"So why have you surfaced now?"
"I need some money. I'm not a big fan of stealing and it keeps me in shape. What do you want?"
"Jump straight to the point, don't you? I guess they were right about you eh? A lone ninja with no known affiliation, one you can find only when she wants to be found."
"Is that what they say about me?" a disinterested look passed across her face. She obliviously didn't give a rat's ass about what people thought about her.
"There's more… if you'd like to hear..."
A small smile crossed across the man's face, "I'm not interested. Don't waste my time. If you don't have something for me to do then I'll go find someone else."
"And erase my memory in the process? I heard that no one actually remembers what you look like, or the way you talk and move, complicated medical jutsu. People have been looking for you."
"Have they?"
The bored look was present again in her eyes which were fixed on one of the glass paintings. A scenery, but not a ordinary one. The sea was painted red and the clouds were black but in the middle of it all was a small bright white light, expanding and consuming everything in its path. The red sky was becoming smaller, the darkness was vanishing. The light had won.
She had once known that light.
"But they have been having a hard time, I can tell you that!"
"It doesn't really matter to me," her soft whisper carried itself across the room. The old man smiled, his wrinkles stretching across his face. He raised his hand and picked up one of the books next to him. The title read, 'Chakra networks in the brain'. It had once been a famous book, a must read for all upcoming medic ninjas and interrogators. The author had been very famous but she was gone now.
"Haruno Sakura is your name isn't it?"
"You've done your research haven't you?" An amused smile lit her face. In the light, the old man could clearly see her face. She was beautiful, this girl, but there was a sadness to her. A loneliness in her eyes that she couldn't quite hide or maybe she didn't find it necessary to hide. Her face was worn down, dark circles around her sad emerald eyes. "It doesn't matter though, I'm going to erase it all anyway."
The smile she gave him unnerved him a little.
"Well I don't know about that…" he gave a steady smile out in return, "Haruno Sakura, the Godaime apprentice, student of the great Copy Cat ninja, leader of the 13th division on the 'Great Allied Shinobi Forces', the best medic nin in the world and also a close friend of… well for the lack of words… 'The chosen one'!"
A laugh echoed through the room. A grin remained on her face as she looked right into the old man's eyes, "I haven't been called all that for the longest time."
"You haven't been around much."
"That's true but like I said before," there was a gentle smile on her face now as she looked at him, like she knew something he didn't. But then again, she probably had all kinds of secrets hidden inside, "I don't have a reason to be. People don't come to me much nowadays"
"I'm not so sure… you are a hard person to find."
The old man placed the book back in its place and tapped his stick twice. Sakura's eyes were drawn to the action but she did nothing more. Her gaze returned to the picture on the wall and the sadness that surrounded her was back. Her lips parted like she wanted to say something but then as soon as it had opened, the walls around her were closed once more.
"There's going to be another one I've heard. Somewhere near the outskirts of Kirigakure, they're gonna need people and like both of us know… there aren't many left."
"I don't see the point of you telling me that…"
A small silence stretched for a while before the old man sighed, shaking his head sadly as he looked at the picture that had the girl's attention.
"You've stopped fighting though, haven't you? I know who you are. I've seen you fight with them. But then one day… you left. You gave up, even after everything that all of you had done. You… you left. Maybe if you hadn't… things would have been different! You knew him, the one who had been said to save us all, and yet you stopped fighting. He was supposed to free us wasn't he?"
"He did," she had long grown tired if this, tired of fighting, tired of suffering. Had promised herself she wouldn't do something like that again. The light had already been taken away from her, "he's the reason we're all here right now. He's still fighting… for us."
"You still could have done something…"
"Not for him. I don't really… matter in the long run," a sad melancholy was there in her eyes, "why do you think… I'm the only one left."
"But they're looking for you"
"If he really wanted to find me… they he would have done so already."
"After all that this world has gone though, I would have figured you of all people would know to never give up hope!"
"You don't get it!" Her eyes were wide, it was the first time she had raised her voice in a long time, and "There was nothing I could have done. I wasn't… I'm not…" her hands shook against her sides, her fingers digging into the palm of her hand. Her face was contorted, eyes shook before she closed them and looked away.
"I don't have to explain myself to you." Sakura had turned away, her voice returning to a soft whisper. The cloak fluttered around her as she moved forward, brushing past the old man her hand already reaching for the door.
"I did call you here for a reason you know?"
A sigh escaped her lips, "I'm not going to do it. I'll find something else and you can find someone else."
"Unfortunately I can't," the old man turned towards the woman, her back facing towards him. Her hand had already started to turn the door knob, "you'll regret it if you leave!"
It had been a long summer.
In Konoha, the Land of fire, her hometown, there had only been two proper seasons that were properly distinguishable. The summer and the spring. Heat was something she had always been used to. After all, she had spent a notable time in Sunagakure. But the heat in Konoha was nothing compared to Suna.
Konoha had always had a pleasant weather.
Too bad it wasn't something she could enjoy now.
Amegakure was covered in water. It had rained continuously for the past four days. Not that she was complaining about the rain or anything, after all… it did help to wash away all the blood.
"It's getting harder to regain control now," the man behind her said gently, "Ino says that all those people who he has taken over are now lost causes. They're nothing we can do for them now."
"You're acting like we had a chance in the first place!"
He had changed a lot. His eyes weren't the same as they had once been. His dark hair was blowing against the raging wind. He looked so much more alive now than the time she had first met him. His eyes though, they expressed everything. Atleast they had succeeded in getting him a heart. The war had changed everyone. Most for the worst but this man… this man had gotten better.
She didn't know what to make of that.
"Naruto doesn't like it when you talk like that."
"Naruto's not here right now, is he?"
"He's gotten better at the whole Kyuubi hearing thing you know? You'll never know when he's gonna pop up!"
"Are you trying to crack a joke?" she raised an elegant eyebrow at the man next to her. This man, he had been her companion for the long time. She knew everything about him now. She understood him better than she had before.
"Why? I thought that was quite funny…" he scratched the back of his head, something he had picked up for their sensei. She snorted looking at that. What was he trying to do? Act cute? It had stopped working with her a long time ago. What an arrogant fool!
"Are you sure it's safe for us to sit here?"
"I didn't peg you for someone who's scared of heights." She looked away. The cliff they were sitting on overlooked the whole landscape of Amegakure. It was a wonderful sight. Better than the one behind her, where there was only blood and pain and screams. Everything was covered in anguish, everyone was in pain. Is this what everything had resulted to?
The madness of one man had caused the demise of so many.
"It's not the height that I'm scared of… it's what's waiting for me below."
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Alive for another day
-by the Shutterbug
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The air around them was heavy with silence as they moved along the dusty corridor of the cottage. Sakura silently surveyed her surroundings, the walls looked old and worn out just like how everything else looked nowadays. There were paintings hung along the walls, so many different types, each one more beautiful than the other. Her eyes fell on a painting of a mother and a child standing on the edge of a broken village and the familiar sadness was back in her eyes and she looked away.
"My granddaughter liked to draw a lot! She made all of them, spent hours in her room painting them to perfection. She had talent that one!"
"Had?" the past tense didn't fall short on her ears.
"She died about two years ago."
Sakura didn't have to ask how. She already knew, that girl had probably died like so the rest of them. Death was a common thing in the last few years, everyone was dying, and the world was burning. It was something she had gotten used to. Even a look to a wrong person could get you killed these days.
"I'm sorry for your loss."
"Loss is something we are all accustomed to. Don't you agree Haruno-san? You of all people know how it feels to lose someone precious to them!"
Sakura remembered the time her sensei had passed away. She had been the only person who had seen past the weakness, the one who saw all the hidden potential. Everyone else had mourned the loss of a Hokage, but she had been mourning the loss of something more. After Tsudane death, she had taken over a top medic. Shizune had tried to helped, but no one could actually fill the void that Tsudane had occupied.
She had lost too many precious things. Loss was something she had gotten used to too.
"This mission… I was told that you were offering a lot of money."
The old man stopped walking and turned around facing her with an expression that she couldn't quite make out. This man… He seemed wise, but didn't all old men seem that way?
"Is that the reason you accepted? Because of the money?"
"I need to get by on my own now. If I don't have money I would have to start doing… lesser deeds."
"You mean killing?"
"No," she shook her head gently, "I stopped doing that a long time ago."
"Killing is in your nature. You are a shinobi aren't you? You may be a medic nin but knowing who you are, you must kill to survive. I have heard that you don't take assassin missions, missions that invoke killing someone. I think it's a bit hypocritical!"
"Do you?" the disinterested look was back on her face, nothing seemed of relevance now. Her hands dung into her pockets and she resembled the epitome of nonchalance as she shifted slightly to the side surveying another painting, "You don't agree?"
"It goes against your very nature!"
"I'm sorry you feel that way but I don't live to please you or anyone for that matter. Now as I said, I need money but you don't seem like a person who has much. How do you hope to pay me for my services?"
"If you agree to do what I want you to do then you won't have any need for money…" the old man turned around again and proceeded to lead her through the long corridor. She could make out a door at the end. He was no doubt leading her there, "But I suppose you are right about me not having any money to offer you! I am but a poor old man."
"Then you are wasting my time!"
"You wouldn't have come here if you didn't want to! This mission… this mission is something only you can do. Like you said before, you are the only one left! He has consumed everything else."
Sakura shifted uncertainly as she watched the man pull open the door. The room was dark but the man moved inside waving her in. The lights turned on and Sakura squinted looking at her surroundings. This room was surprisingly clean and furnished unlike the room she had been in which had been covered in books, while at the same time books lined the shelves. There was a sofa in the middle, a coffee table in front of it with two chairs on its sides, a useless TV, a desk pushed against the wall with two other chairs. A carpet lined the floor and light seeped in through the windows.
The room was homey and warm, something she had forgotten. Sakura tugged forward going through the many labels.
"You have many books," there had been a time when she had loved reading. Ever since she had been a little child the Konoha library had been her sanctuary, a place for her to escape into when the bullies had come calling. She hadn't been inside a library in ages, she doubted there were even any left, but this man had seemed to manage to fit an entire monument of books into his small cottage.
"I like to keep my brain in check," the old man smiled, "There's not much for an old lonely man like me to do now is there?"
A small smile lit her face, "I suppose not…"
"Well anyway, would you like me to tell you why I have called you here?"
"I need to know that if you expect me to do something for you."
"Right, I'll make some tea." The man moved to the kitchen and soon she heard the sound of running water. Her attention once again returned to the books. Most of them were about chakra and history, but some were fiction. On the middle shelve, one of the rows was cleared to make way for some more frames and Sakura moved towards them.
One of them was a picture frame, the edges were chipped off. It was a family, a husband and a wife holding they're little child up towards the camera, all with brilliant smiles on they're faces. A smile came on her face as she looked at the pure happiness that they help in their eyes. The second showed the old man holding the little girl's arm and again there were identical smiles on their faces.
"Her name was Mikoto. She was about sixteen years old when she died."
She gazed away from the photos to look at the old man who was placing two cups on the table. The strong smell of an herb tea entered her nose and she immediately recognised it. It was something she usually drank to reduce fatigue and it helped in relaxing the body and giving it a better chance to sleep. She was accustomed to drinking it whenever she could. She had a hard time sleeping after all.
"I'll jump straight to the point," he said as he settled down on one of the chairs, "Have you heard of time travel Haruno Sakura?"
Startled she looked up from her cup of tea, her hands squeezing it and her eyes widening. Time travel? Memories of watching Madara bring his past to the future, the chaos it had brought along with it. The world had turned red and Ino had screamed so hard-
She shut herself off and looked back to her cup, "I've only known of one man who had done it. But he's already dead now. No one really knows how he had managed to shift time like that…"
"What if I told you that I do?"
She looked up from her cup staring straight into his unwavering eyes, her gears in her mind were turning, and "You want me to time travel?"
A laugh echoed and the old man was shaking his head again, "You really are smart! I didn't have to even start explaining what I wanted from you!"
The man straightened before looking at the woman in front of him again. There were so many stories about her, the ones who still believed expected her to come back but he knew better. She had already given up. Every fibre of her being screamed it. There was no way she was going to go back there, to the bloodshed. Too much had been taken away from her and he knew every bit of it.
"Time travel… it's not something to play around with. That man, Uchiha Madara, after he had gotten hold of such a powerful technique he ensured that no one else would ever do something like that again. It's the most powerful jutsu in the world and thus not many people know about it. People have witnessed it but they do not know how to perform the technique! And let me tell you, it's not so easy to perform. It requires bountiful amounts of chakra, chakra which cannot be stored in only one person."
"Then I'm not really the right person to do something like that am I? I do not possess the amount of chakra you require!"
"No," the man nodded, "You do not possess it… but you could!"
"My chakra was nothing compared to Madara's, even now. I do not have a kekkei genkai or any form of dojutsu! Nor do I have a Jinchūriki inside me. If what you're saying is correct then there is no way for me to accumulate such a great amount of chakra!"
"Whoever said that the chakra had to be yours?"
The eyes tightened as she leaned forward, "What do you mean?"
"Time is always flowing. If someone were to reverse time, change and alter its course then everything would be erased. The future is ever changing but there are alternatives. What I mean to say is that… if someone were to change the past then the future would become nonexistent! Even a simple act can hold significance. If you were to go to the past then this future that all of us have lived in would cease to exist and along with it, so would everything that is living!"
"I don't understand!"
"Right! Well as you know Madara had bountiful amounts of chakra in his body, chakra that didn't belong to him!"
"I…" she was cut off when the man raised his hand. A gentle smile was present on his face.
"As you said, Madara was the only person who has travelled through time. And also, as you said again, the chakra reserves you have now is nothing compared to what he had accumulated in his body. The reason for his vast amount of chakra is this jutsu. This jutsu not only uses the user's chakra reserves but also uses the chakra of everything that is living. The user's chakra only serves as a connection between the jutsu and the millions of souls that would be used as…well fuel."
The man leaned down, sipping his tea.
"Haruno Sakura, if you were to use this jutsu then everything that is living would be consumed by you. It will serve as your connection to the living world granting you a solid body and a place for your soul while you go back. The chakra of every person, animal, all of their lives will become a part of you. As I said, even a small deed would change the future, as soon as you go back in time this future will be erased!"
"You're asking me to kill thousands of people just so I can rewrite time?"
"You don't have a choice. The future that you will create by doing so will be much better than the one we are living in now!"
A snort escaped her lips and her fingers played with the cup in her hands. The liquid inside was warm and soothing. The last time she had drunk tea was a week ago in a small tea shop in Getsugakure. She had only stayed there for two days but the people there had been kind to her and the man in the coffee shop had given her some free snacks.
Last week that village had been burnt down because they hadn't paid their mortgage.
"And what makes you think that I would even accept this mission?"
"You seem like someone who had done a lot that you regret. Like someone earning for a second chance, if you do accept you might just get it, a second chance to save everyone who had once been precious to you."
Five years ago, she had buried Tenten in a place that had once been called Otogakure. It had rained the previous day and she had had a hard time digging the mud out with her bare hands. All the time she had been thinking about the others, it had been her fault they had gotten separated.
They were probably looking for her.
It had taken her about three hours to complete the task and then she had wondered if she should make a headstone or not. Doing that would be a risk, there were people hunting her down. Making the headstone would show them that she had been here and she didn't know how long it would take her to reach the others. She was already low on chakra and doing this would mean her own possible death but…
A smile had come on her face then and she managed to find a modest rock. On it she craved out Tenten's name in big bold kanji, 'Konohagakure no Tenten, Jounin, friend and comrade' with one of her blunt kunai and dug it in her grave. It was plain and perfect, Tenten would have approved. The people looking for her would find this and maybe they would find her… but it had been a small price to pay.
After three days, Naruto had gotten to her and he had held her so tight and when her arms had wrapped themselves around him she had felt him shaking and he had whispered, 'if I had lost you Sakura-chan I don't know what I would have done!'
"You're right about that," a sad smile grazed her lips as she tilted her head down, "I do regret a lot but…"
After that incident, Neji had grabbed her, asking her where Tenten was. That was the last day Neji had ever properly looked at her.
"I don't deserve a second chance…" She looked up and silently placed the half empty tea cup on the table, "I'm sorry but…you're going to find someone else…"
He heard the sound of the door closing before he actually saw it and the man shook his head again in defiance and while the silence surrounded him he whispered, "She'll come back…"
It was raining when she had her first kill.
It wasn't something that she liked to remember. It is actually something that she regretted till this day because even though they trained you to become killers they never actually told you how killing would feel like. But killing was something she was used to now. Everyone had to kill to survive.
It had happened in Kumogakure and in broad daylight. It had been the first time she had actually seen him.
Uchiha Madara.
He had been standing on top of a cliff overlooking the battle scene. His dark red and black cloak blowing around him and his hands had been folded across his chest. All the blood and death hadn't mattered to him. It hadn't affected him at all. If anything, he had seemed to enjoy it. Her body had ached and her hands were filthy and looking at Madara had made her blood run cold.
The only one who could face him had been Naruto.
In the aftermath, she had never felt more useless in her life. Naruto had bled so much, so much blood had covered his hands but there had been a grin on his face. Tsudane was closing up a wound on his chest and she had been working on his arm when he had grabbed it.
"Sakura-chan," he had gasped and she had shook telling him to shut up, not to exert himself, "Are you okay?"
Her eyes had widened, even now… even now when he could die he was thinking about her, "Baka! Ofcourse I'm okay! Be worried about yourself for once!"
And Naruto had weakly shook his head and a bright smile reached his face, "I'm glad you're okay… Sakura-chan… As long as…"
He had lost lots of blood and she remembered thinking, 'Naruto's getting delusional. We need to patch him up face otherwise something might happen to him. He needs to stop talking' but him next words had taken her breath away.
"As long as I get to protect Sakura-chan…As long as Sakura-chan's okay… nothing else matters…"
He had fainted after that but her mind had reeled… since when… since when had Naruto started to care so much about her? Maybe…Maybe he was getting delusional. Naruto protected everyone…Everyone! It didn't matter if he knew them or not. He was already protecting the whole world hadn't he? He had gotten everyone's compassion, everyone's love. He had come so far and she had done nothing to help him and yet… yet he still cared so much about her.
Since when had Naruto, the dead-last, become someone she had started counting on?
But Tsudane had cut off her thoughts, ordering her to get back to work and she had done exactly that. She had bottled up her feelings. Later after he was declared clear, she had sat in his room and held his hand for a very long time, thinking... just thinking.
She had been so useless, so pathetic. All she could offer him… all she could offer him was her comfort but… but that too in the end failed in comparison.
And he was right. He found her again facing one of his book shelves. The light from the mood flooded the room and just for a few seconds he wondered if anyone could look lonelier. Haruno Sakura was standing in his living room the next week, her face unreadable, "This jutsu… will it save everyone?"
Her voice sounded sad like she had gone through something difficult and she probably had. For a few minutes he just looked at her before letting a smile cross his face, "I thought you weren't going to do it. You said you don't deserve a second chance"
"I wasn't…" Her hand moved, picking up a book from the shelf, a fantasy, "but… everywhere I look there's suffering. What I said before… about not deserving a second chance… I meant it. I don't… after everything that I've done… all the people that I've betrayed… I don't… I don't deserve it. But everyone else does. This world is dying and if there's something I can do…not for myself but for everyone else then…"
She turned around from the books and fixed the old man with a hard look, "then I'll do it! But-"
"I'm not going to kill millions of innocent people! I'm not Madara!"
"I'm not asking you to physically kill them Haruno-san!"
"Then…-"
"Before that, I want to ask you… what made you change your mind?" The chair creaked as he sat on it, surveying the woman before him, "Did something happen?"
"A girl died… about ten years old. They hurt her and there was nothing I could do to save her… it… it made me wonder…"
"Something as small as that shouldn't have changed your mind, you seemed adamant!"
"Before she died… she said that I had saved her once… Six years ago when her village had been attacked, she said that I healed her but her parents had died. She said that she wanted things to go back to the way they had been… that her last wish was to see her parents again. Maybe I don't deserve a second chance but if I could change things…"
"So you'll do it?"
"Tell me how it works…"
"As soon as the jutsu is activated it will automatically consume everything so as to take you to the past. Let me explain how it works! The world we are living in now will not exist, all those people who will be sacrificed, will not exist. They will feel no pain. They will only be transformed into chakra. All of their souls will reside within you and that will help you to stay in the past, but it is only for a limited time ofcourse! Just until every last soul in you is used up."
"And how am I supposed to get so many souls?"
"Ofcourse once again, like any forbidden jutsu this one too has some seals. The seals must be placed in five corners of the world and that is why you are the only one who can do it! Not many people are left who can make themselves disappear and I can't just ask any random person to do this task."
"So you need me to write the seals. Five corners of the world eh? That's it? All I have to do is write the seals?"
"If time travel were that easy then every other person can go back and rewrite their mistakes. By the time the third seal is drawn anyone who is adept at sensing chakra will get drawn towards it. I need someone who can hold their own against enemies and I'm sure you haven't forgotten how to fight.
"Okay," Sakura shifted the tea in her cup, "What about the seals? All forbidden jutsu needed some sort of sacrifice. Some sort of connection. What does this one need apart from all the souls?"
"The seals need to be made out of the blood of the user and also mine!"
"Yours?"
Another laugh passed through his mouth, "You didn't think I was just another old man did you?"
The world was falling apart.
Below her the once great village of Konohagakure laid broken, its walls crumbed around itself. The land that had once boasted about supremacy was dead. Konohagakure was dead, a ghost town, something she had never imagined it would become. But then, she had imagined many things and none of them had come true.
The streets laid barren, not a soul in sight, the buildings broken down into pieces. The few buildings that were still standing were half torn. None of these buildings could provide shelter.
Konoha will be the first to burn.
And burn it had. He hadn't spared anything or anyone. Her ears were once again filled with the sounds that haunted her dreams. Screams echoed, people begging to be saved. The day Konoha had died had been the day she had left. By the time the savoir had reached, Konoha had ceased to exist. Amaterasu had burnt everything in its path. The flames had surrounded Konoha for seven days and seven nights and in the end of it nothing had survived.
Her eyes fell on the Hokage Mountain, proof of Konoha's power. It laid broken now, the five faces that had once adored the mountain had been taken down during the fights that had broken out in Konoha. She could make out the slight features of the Nidaima Hokage but that was all.
Her eyes closed and she looked away. This was the first time she had come to this place in three years. Coming back brought memories and feelings that she didn't want to experience. The streets of Konoha were dirty, after all no one was here to clean them now. Sighing, she proceeded to move. A lonely breeze blew through the area and she ran a tired hand through her long hair.
The old man had said that the seal had to be placed in the centre of Konohagakure. If she remembered correctly, the centre had been somewhere near the Hokage Tower. Her hands dug into her pockets as she moved silently through Konoha's streets, her cloak fluttering around her in the breeze. Once she finally reached the spot, she dryly stared at the heap of rubble in front of her.
She sighed, this was just great.
It took her some hours before she finally managed to clear all of it. The night's cool air brushed past her again and for once she was glad that no one came here anymore. From inside her cloak she brought out the medium sized jar of liquid.
In the darkness it looked black but if she angled it correctly then she could see the deep colour of red that it had and her mind went back to what the old man had said to her.
"It requires my blood so that it can be authenticated and it requires your blood since you are the one who's going to be the one to perform the jutsu. The seal is going to be made from a mixture of both our bloods. The very first place that you need to draw the seal is in your previous hometown, Konohagakure. Draw it in the centre and do not make any mistakes."
She clicked her tongue. Do not make any mistakes eh?
It took her another one hour to finally finish drawing the seal before she enforced it with her chakra. The blood on the ground sizzled and shifted and she could feel the tugging on her nerves. She watched in strange fascination as the seal around her started to turn, her chakra was draining itself into the seal. It was like it had a mind of its own. Her right hand sizzled and burned as she raised it to take a look. The markings the old man had drawn on them were burning a deep red.
It hurt, but pain was something she had gotten used to. It continued for another few seconds before the area returned to the deadly quite silence it had been immersed in before. Sakura shifted silently as she looked at the markings on her hand, she could feel the twist it had brought in her chakra network. She had to ask the old man about it once she got back. The seals that she had drawn had disappeared, absorbed into the ground like water.
A noise entered her ears and she turned to look at the disturbance. People were heading her way, shinobi by the looks of it. The chakra burst that the seal had cost had obviously drawn them to it.
"I felt something here just a minute ago! I swear! I think it was the man we were trying to capture earlier-"
"Don't be stupid, he headed the other way. We're wasting our time here!"
"I think I saw something over there a sometime ago when I had guard duty! Didn't I tell you before? Someone is there!"
"Where?" the man exhaled loudly obviously irritated, "There's nothing here. I don't sense anything out of place nor do I sense even a little bit of chakra!"
"But-" he turned back to the area around them and sure enough there was no one to be seen. The area was dead silent and he could feel any chakra signal. His eyes fell on the rubble and he blinked in confusion.
There was nothing. Maybe he had imagined it. His companion was already moving back to the hideout and with one last look around, he followed.
The person that had stood there a few seconds ago had disappeared and so had the seal.
"You're awake"
The first thing she saw was the darkness. For a moment, she didn't know what was happening before she finally turned her head and looked up from the pillow she had buried her face in. The old man was kneeling in front of her, a look of amusement on his face. Her body was aching and she slowly sat up rubbing her head, the covers around her pooling around her lap.
"What happen?"
"You passed out," He handed her a cup of coffee, "Drink it. I'll help the aching."
She pushed her legs away from the sofa and let them touch the warm carpet below her. The cup was warm in her hand and she groaned as the ache in her head intensified.
"Imagine my surprise when I wake up to find a ninja sleeping on my couch!" The old man was grinning as he crossed the room, "I'm guessing you finished the second seal?"
"Yeah…" the warm liquid passed through her throat and she groaned again in apprehension, "I ran into some trouble."
The man hummed before heading off into the kitchen, "I made breakfast! Eat up! You'll get your strength back!"
Gulping down the contents of the cup, Sakura slowly raised her tired body from the couch and followed him inside. The old man busied around for a few minutes before placing a modest breakfast in front of her and going to sit on the opposite side. Sakura stared at the omelette and the soft brown pieces of bread. How long had it been since she had eaten a home cooked meal?
The bread was crunchy and buttery just like how her Okaa-san used to make it.
"The third seal has to be placed in the Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves) and also I'm going to need more of your blood."
Sakura sighed, "Don't say it like that… makes me feel weird!"
"Well my apologies then Sakura… how would you like me to say it?"
Sakura crunched up her face before burying it in her cup of water and the man smiled in amusement before his face turned serious again, "Did you run into him?"
Sakura paused, thinking, a sad look crossing her face, "No… guess he's too busy with more important stuff…"
"Your chakra control is exceptional, no one can sense you if you don't want them to. There are many people still looking for you, you know? From here onwards… It gets tougher. He'll soon find out what we're up to and he'll come after you."
"I know how to make myself disappear… you should worry about yourself. Does he know about you?"
"No," the man shook his head, "I don't look like I used to. If he really wanted to find me, he will. But I think he will come after you… isn't that what he told you?"
A gasp came out of her lips and her hands on the cup tightened, "How do you know about that?"
"I know a lot of things…" the man muttered sipping his tea.
"Not that…! What aren't you telling me?"
"I'm different in different realities. When Madara used the jutsu he encountered a different version of me. Time is not constant, it's ever changing. There are many alternate universes. In most, the both of us never meet. Other times, the world is saved and also there are some universes where you are not even born!"
Sakura blinked, "So you're saying that there are different realities out there?"
"Yes! The future is made up because of a person's choices. Even a single change in that would bring about something different altogether! It is only our misfortune, that we are living in this one."
"How did you know what he told me?"
"I've been keeping a close eye on you. In life you encounter different kinds of people and sometimes among them are people who can change the very nature of this world. You are one of them! There's a reason you are alive right now."
"The only reason I'm alive is because I'm not important enough to be killed. I don't pose any threat to him!"
"Maybe you didn't before… but now you do."
Her hand itched. The seals on her hand felt like they were moving right under her skin. She raised her other arm and scratched, this was getting irritating. Was it supposed to itch like that? Sighing, Sakura lifted her hand up in front of her face, surveying the markings. It seemed almost cool in a way now, looks like she had finally gotten a tattoo.
If Naruto saw it now, a smile captured her lips as she thought of the blond man, he would have been so excited.
She missed him, of all the people she had left behind, she missed him the most. Her days were empty, going through the same routines every day. She had lost her home and she missed it but most importantly she missed him. A quite chuckle came out of her mouth, if she had known that losing Naruto would feel this way then…
She closed her eyes and immediately saw his face, his usual grin had left and his eyes seemed so dull, don't go Sakura-chan!
Would things have been different if she had stayed? Would he have been with her now instead? He had begged that day five years ago, had wrapped his arms around her from the back and held her so tight with tears in his eyes, clinging desperately and he had begged! And even after all that… she hadn't stayed had she? What had she gained by it? Nothing but sadness… what kind of twisted masochist was she?
Don't go Sakura-chan… I'll… I'll do anything so just… just stay! here with me! Don't leave!
She could never forget his wounded voice. Those brilliant blue eyes had looked at her in such sadness and pain reflecting what had been in her heart. Naruto… she was all alone now. It had been her own goddamn fault. Now… now there was no one… no one to smile at her the way he had, no one to protect her like he had, no one to love her-
She cut herself off. She didn't need to go there.
Her heart ached, when was the last time someone had called her Sakura-chan?
She scratched her hand, god it just wouldn't stop itching would it?
"Stop scratching it… it just means that the seals are working. You'll get used to it eventually!"
"You mean the itching isn't going to stop?"
The man laughed, "It's a small price to pay."
"Easy for you to say, you're not the one who had to suffer with it!"
The man hummed and returned to his book, pushing his glasses back on his nose. Sakura went back to staring at the markings. It extended to half her arm now, eventually after she would finish the fifth seal the old man had said that it would extend to her whole arm. She turned it and looked at her palm. The small kanji letters stared back at her. They were placed in a small circle in the centre of her palm from which the rest of the markings extended.
Atleast it increased her hotness quotient.
"I've been meaning to ask," Sakura muttered raising her head, "What's going to happen to me?"
"You mean after you go back in time?"
"Hai…"
"I suppose, you'll have some time left. You'll still have your body and your power so you should be able to do what you're supposed to. You'll get to stay in the past as long as you have the chakra to keep you there. Once all the chakra in you is used up… you'll be erased as well…"
"I'm going to die?"
"Well ofcourse, you won't belong in that time. If you do your job correctly then this version of you won't exist. Unless you figure out a way to stay there like Madara did! But something tells me you won't do that."
"No…" she looked back down at her arm, "why would I have any reason to do something like that?"
She met him after she had finished the fourth seal. It had rained a few hours ago and the air around Kirigakure was moist. His monstrous chakra surrounded the whole area and his eyes had stared straight through her heart and her mind had whispered, what took you so long to find me?
His feet splashed through puddles to reach her and she couldn't move. Her heart pounded in her chest as he finally came to a halt a few steps in front of her. Her cloak blew in the wind and her fingers felt numb in the cold breeze.
Seeing him now, after so many years of hiding and running away, was something she hadn't accounted for. Her mind reeled, wondering. He looked the same way he had the last time she had seen him. His hair had grown longer but everything else had remained the same. His eyes… they still had the same intensity in them.
"I missed you."
Such a innocent statement, but when it came out of his mouth… when he said it like that… what was she supposed to do now?
"Where have you been," a smile stretched across his face whiskered face, "Sakura-chan?"
A/N: there you go! First chapter! Tell me what you guys think. The time travelling should happen in the next chapter so watch out ne?
Please review! The more the reviews the more authors feel like writing. Usually, fewer reviews dishearten people like me and make me feel like maybe my stories really are boring, so anything would do.
Ja!