Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did Sasuke would be dead and Shinachiku would be graduating as a genin early.


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Talk About Eternity

Chapter 1: Scissors


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Sometimes Sakura wondered if her hair was more of a curse than a blessing.

It was the colour of youth and all things girly. It was not the sign of a highly trained shinobi. Her mother had cooed when her daughter was born with hair the colour of cotton candy. It had been a point of interest for most people since she had started at the academy. Many simply assumed that she dyed it periodically but those who knew her; those who had gone through all those hardships alongside her knew the truth. And to be honest those who hadn't didn't mean very much to her.

Sakura tried to think back as to what had made her the way she was today. She was strong; a force to be reckoned with. But past her hard exterior, grown from the pain of rejection and being unable to keep up with the rest of her team was a young girl who still felt inferior at times. A girl who still worried about the size of her forehead and whether or not her smile at least seemed genuine.

Years of being treated like the weakest link did not disappear overnight. Years of constant pain and rejection didn't go away with one small apology. Sometimes she felt like she was slowly being cut in half with a very sharp pair of scissors. She constantly felt torn; between her life as a shinobi and responsibility to her team, and her gut-wrenching love for that damn Uchiha. She still loved him even now, despite the torment and pain he had caused her. She no longer believed that she would ever experience proper love. That dream had shattered a long time ago; along with the mirror that used to make her feel good about herself. Now all she had were sharply edged shards that reflected a girl whose life was in disarray. Well at least the mirror is honest.

She absently twirled a strand of her cherry-blossom coloured hair and thought about how different things might have been had she taken to being a field-nin rather than working with the medics after the war. She really was gifted with medical-jutsu though, and her chakra control was finer than nearly everyone she knew. She had an eidetic memory, a fact that no one other than herself and Ino knew about. It did help her at times, though some things are often best forgotten. The clarity of her memories only ever made the nightmares worse. Lightening flashed across the room and she heard a distant roll of thunder. Sakura frowned subconsciously. She absent-mindedly wondered when she had started to think about herself so darkly.

The lights in her office were dimmed and the soft patter of rain on the window was gently lulling her to sleep. She felt awfully stiff and her throat was dry despite the six cups of half-drunken coffee strewn across her desk; one threatening to topple to the ground and stain her new carpet. The sound of footsteps traipsing lightly near her door pulled her out of her momentary stupor. Sakura sighed and put down her pen. Her hand ached from overuse but the stack of paperwork seemed to only get higher every hour.

Tsunade-sama really had it out for her.

Honestly Sakura should have been at home by now; preferably relaxing in a nice foamy bubble bath, but she had been the one to ask for more work; anything to keep her mind off the Uchiha who had gotten her into this mess in the first place.

Normally she would have spent time with Naruto – probably eating ramen or something equally as ridiculous – but he had busied himself with spending every waking moment in the presence of one Hinata Hyuuga. Even Sakura had to admit that they were head over heels for each other; though Hinata had been so for years. The pretty girl's shy glances and muttered "Naruto-kun's fooled no one. Though she knew Hinata was good for Naruto and approved of the relationship. Sometimes Sakura wondered if the Uzumaki's brain even knew how to comprehend romance. How Hinata put up with it was anybody's guess. Even Ino was spending some time with her new significant other. No one was more surprised than her to find out that Ino-pig had taken a shine to Sai in all his indifferent ways. She supposed it was the lure of a boy who could draw.

This left Sakura alone and bored. Sasuke was no longer speaking to her - though he didn't exactly have the right to. They had left things off on a rather sour note with Sakura ready to slit the younger Uchiha's wrists herself. Sasuke had not talked to her since. In some ways it hurt that he was ignoring her. Those childhood feelings still lingered, though now they only left a bitter taste at the back of her mouth.

She was tired. Physically and emotionally. She just wanted to go home and lie in a warm, comfortable bed more than anything. Lightning flashed again but this time the thunder was much louder. Sakura got up and walked to the single window set in the side of her tiny office. The streets were empty and dark. She and the other hospital night-shift takers were probably the only people still awake at this hour. Her home was not far from the hospital. A good 15 minute walk when she pushed it.

Sakura weighed the pros and cons. If she went home now she would walk alone. She didn't have an umbrella or a coat and her shoes were not exactly prime wet weather walking material. She could stay the night at the hospital. It wasn't as if she hadn't done it before. There were spare blankets in the supply closet just down the hall and she was sure there would be an extra mattress in one of the less used wards. Still, home promised a warm bath and sustenance. Sakura reminded herself that she hadn't eaten since yesterday. Skipping meals had been something she had become prone to doing. She didn't do it on purpose. She knew better than anyone that her body needed the sustenance to keep on being alive but she managed to miss several meals in a row regardless. Somehow an image of Shikamaru flashed through her mind. He mouthed the word 'troublesome'. Even that lazy bum had started to worry over her eating habits.

Home it is.

Sakura pulled off her white coat but then glanced outside and decided she needed it. Her work was still piled high on her small oak desk and the coffee cups really needed to be returned to the cafeteria. The work I'll finish tomorrow. The coffee cups can go back now. She threw her small purse over her shoulder and picked up all of cups. She just managed to manoeuvre through the dark corridors without dropping a cup. There was not a single light on under the doors of the other offices. At least her co-workers were sane.

After depositing the cups in the cafeteria Sakura headed for the hospital's main doors. The new night receptionist took no notice of her. No one was milling about in the lobby and the girl had taken to reading a magazine. Sakura smiled softly to herself, trying to recall what it had been like to have silly flyaway crushes and giggle over the latest fashion news. But those times were long over. Now she was in charge of rebuilding this village's healthcare system from the bottom up and not even Kami was going to stop her from fulfilling her duty. Sakura quickly signed herself out and stepped through the doors, only to be bombarded with rain and wind.

Oh how absolutely brilliant.

The only light going up and down the entire street was from the hospital and soon she was plunged into darkness. That, coupled with the storm and a strange sense of unease made her want to turn around and snuggle up in the emergency ward. At least then she wouldn't be soaking wet and slipping all over the place. For a kunoichi of her standing she should have been able to keep better balance. Sadly that was not the case. She was nearing her house now. Not more than 500 meters left. The street was muddy and her heels kept getting lodged in the cracks between the stones. She probably looked like some sort of avenging ghost with her pastel hair plastered to her face and white coat sticking to her uncomfortably.

A slither of cold made its way down her spine and suddenly she realised that she was being followed. She hastened her step but whoever was behind her matched her pace easily. She was literally at her doorstep though. All she had to do was find her stupid keys in the tiny purse. Why was it so difficult to find one stupid set of keys?

"Looking for these, Sakura-san?"

Sakura froze at the sound of the amusement in the familiar voice.

"Kakashi-sensei. I don't know why you have decided to become a stalker but would you mind giving me back my keys? You may be invulnerable to the cold but not everyone is a freak of nature." Sakura turned around to see the lanky form of her old teacher. He was barely visible in the dim light of her front porch. He held out the keys to her and she snatched them away. She noted that his hand had been shaking slightly but she simply dismissed it as a symptom of the cold. She quickly unlocked the front door and stepped inside before turning around. Sakura sighed. He would not have followed her home had there not been a proper reason.

"What do you need Kakashi-sensei?" He scoffed.

"Well you could stop calling me 'sensei' for one. Or you know, you could just make sure I'm not about to die from this scratch I got when I was in Fire." He always made things sound so flippant. Sakura turned on the hall light and it illuminated Kakashi; and now Sakura could see what he meant. He was ridiculously pale and his entire right side was soaked in blood. He was without his jacket, which meant at some point it had become more of a hindrance than a help. Sakura wasn't one to faint at the sight of blood. Blood was something every shinobi had to deal with, but seeing her sensei in his current condition made her slightly sick. Call it her motherly instinct.

"Quickly, come inside. And for Kami's sake be quiet. My parents are asleep."


Kakashi made it to Sakura's kitchen before promptly passing out. She suspected from blood loss though once she'd managed to cut his shirt from him she started to wonder if it was not from poison. The damage was obviously blade-related and judging by how deep it was it was likely a katana. Most regular shinobi made do with shuriken and kunai so Sakura guessed Kakashi-sensei had had a run in with ANBU or missing-nin. Just a scratch hey? Sakura gently probed the wound without disturbing the flesh and was relieved to find that there were no traces of poison to be found. She set right to work with repairing the broken ribs and tissue damage. The muscles were difficult things and she had a feeling that getting her sensei back in working order would take more than some herbs and her mother's kitchen table. She did as much as she could and tried to replenish the man's blood supply to a high enough level that he would not pass out again if she needed to wake him. He would not be able to stretch his torso for quite some time. She then set about repairing the fragile nerve endings in the soft glow of her healing chakra. She was honestly in no condition to be expending as much chakra as she was but she would rather suffer chakra exhaustion than see her sensei suffer. Once she had done as much as she could she put away her various vials and wrapped up his side.

Sakura was now faced with a dilemma. She couldn't very well leave him downstairs because her parents would freak if they saw some stranger bleeding all over their kitchen table. So Sakura picked him up as carefully as she could and brought him up to her room. She wasn't exactly sure where she would sleep but for now that didn't matter. Once she had cleared her bed and made sure her sensei looked at least mildly comfortable she went to take stock of the mess in the kitchen. It took her about 15 minutes to clean up all the blood and sanitize the tables. By now she was cold and her clothing was stained with blood. Her feet ached because of those awful shoes. A birthday present from Ino.

I really need a shower.

The next half an hour was spent enjoying the steaminess of a hot shower and making sure she was free of any annoying spatters of blood. She let down her hair too. It was odd having it at that length again. It now fell as a curtain just past her shoulders. Perhaps I'm due for a haircut. It felt unnatural to have to tie it up again. The shorter hair made her feel older somehow. More mature. The hot water soaked into her muscles and she felt herself loosen up slightly. She really needed this. Somehow she wasn't just washing away the grime of today but the build-up of emotional dirt seemed to lessen. Sakura stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a white towel before heading into her room to find some pyjamas. What she hadn't expected was for Kakashi to have woken up.

"Well that's a sight I wouldn't mind waking up to more often." Sakura jumped with a soft squeal at the voice of her sensei. His voice was hoarse. If he wasn't injured she would have punched him into next week for that comment.

"Kakashi-sensei! Close your eyes this instant!" Sakura hated that she couldn't shout.

/Why CAN'T you? He deserves it!/

Inner Sakura could be such a pain sometimes. Though rare, sometimes her inner self still liked to make an appearance. My parents are sleeping. I don't want to wake them up. Inner Sakura humphed but shut up. Kakashi simply smirked at the girl's command.

"Well it isn't my fault that you've got such an adorable ass." Sakura squeaked and ran back in the bathroom (with the clothes she'd picked out of course). She concluded that Kakashi was probably just delusional from the pain or had woken up from a particularly enjoyable dream. Knowing his tendency to read porn just about everywhere she wouldn't have been surprised in the least. She slipped into the baggy tee-shirt and black shorts before switching off the light and moving back into her room. Kakashi was once again unconscious. She quickly left the room and closed the door softly behind her. She would have to sleep on the couch for tonight.


She was out as soon as her head hit the pillow. And then the nightmares began.

She was back in the chuunin exams, staring helplessly at the sound-nin as she crouched protectively near her boys. She wasn't sure when she had started to call them her boys but they were her team and now she couldn't even do anything to help then. The Sound-nin advanced at a snail's pace, taking time to insult her.

"Who do you think you are little girl, trying to become as strong as the rest of your team? You'll never be more than a burden to them. A hindrance." Their words stung. Sakura just curled in on herself and shook softly.

"You're useless. I don't even know why you try. There's no point. They will never respect you. He'll never love you. You're the most pathetic excuse for a kunoichi I've ever seen. How can you compare yourself to anyone?" The voices shifted. Some were the voices of her childhood tormentors. Others were unknown. Ino's voice even mingled in. The faces swirled around her like a storm threatening to swallow her up. Suddenly the voices stopped and when she opened her eyes there was only darkness.

"Hello?" She was young again. Her hair was uncut and straight. But she was weak. She looked around and spotted another figure on the plane.

"S-Sasuke?" He didn't even turn around. She moved towards him cautiously.

"Sasuke-kun? Please answer me. It's Sakura!" She reached out to touch him but he spun around faster and stabbed her in the chest with a kunai. The blood dripped down her dress and intermingled with the red dye. Sakura dropped to her knees and looked at Sasuke.

His eyes showed disgust.

"You useless girl. Can't even defend yourself from a kunai. Some kind of shinobi you turned out to be."

Sakura was choking on her own blood now.

"Sakura?" The voice was soft and faraway. Sasuke was fading away. She reached a hand up to him and he dissolved into nothingness.

"Sakura, wake up honey." Suddenly her chest no longer hurt and she was forced out of the nightmare.


"Sakura-chan? Why are you on the couch?" Sakura mumbled grumpily and rolled over, trying to block out the light. Mebuki tsked and came right up close to Sakura's ear.

"SAKURA HARUNO YOU BETTER GET UP THIS INSTANT!" Sakura screamed and rolled onto the floor in a tangled heap of blankets. She groaned as her head came into contact with the floor. Her mother simply rolled her eyes. "Now will you please explain to me why you were sleeping on the couch?" Sakura opened her mouth as if she was about to speak when they two kunoichis heard a clatter and bang from upstairs. A rather ruffled and shirtless Kakashi Hatake appeared at the bottom of the staircase; his side was still covered in bandaging but the rest of him was very much uncovered, baring the black mask that he never removed. Sakura groaned and covered her face with one of the couch pillows.

"Sakura? Are you okay?" Mebuki gaped at the sight of this strange man in her house. Yes she had been trying to coax her daughter into to finding a potential husband (she did want grandchildren after all) but seeing this man, who was obviously a shinobi, appear from her daughter's bedroom was more than a little suspicious.

"Sakura honey? Why is there a shirtless man in the middle of my home?" Sakura was lucky her father was away on official ANBU business because if hewere here...

"He was going to die mother. I had to patch him up. He isn't even supposed to be moving. Kakashi-sensei please go back to bed. Slowly." He shrugged and moved back up the stairs - with some difficulty - she noted. Mebuki watched as the odd man retreated back to whence he came. Something registered in the older Haruno's mind.

"Did you just say 'sensei'?" Sakura felt extremely frustrated by now. As well as sore. A cot in the emergency ward was probably more comfortable. Though it wouldn't have roused her from the nightmare.

"Yes Kaa-chan. He was my sensei when I was still a genin remember?" Mebuki did faintly remember silver hair that didn't seem to like the laws of physics and an orange book. Yes the book was very familiar.

"Hai. I do. He's very odd is he not?" Sakura couldn't agree more.

"The oddest."


Tsunade was in a rather interesting predicament.

She was sitting in her office attempting to balance 5 empty sake bottles (the sake a gift from Suna, sent by the Kazekage himself) on top of one another when a nervous-looking Shizune popped her head around her door.

"Hokage-sama? If I may, there is something that needs to be brought to your attention immediately." Tsunade let the bottles fall - she had only managed to stack three - and they rolled off her desk before clattering to the ground. Yes she would probably have to assign someone to clean up the mess but Shizune was obviously worried.

"Yes Shizune-san? Please come in." The girl stepped aside and allowed none other than Yūgao Uzuki, an ANBU member that Tsunade was rather fond of, come through. The young woman pulled off her mask and slumped into the seat adjacent to the Hokage's desk while rubbing her forehead.

"Hokage-sama? We may have encountered a slight problem." Yūgao was not one to joke and thus Tsunade felt rather the more interested.

"Well how about you drink a cup of this brilliant sake and tell me all about this little problem?" Tsunade poured herself another glass and proceeded to sip at it slowly. The girl just shook her head slowly.

"Itachi is back."


Nobody blamed Tsunade for her initial reaction. Not even Yūgao who had sake spat all over her uniform. The girl dryly commented that she often smelt like an alcoholic after a particularly difficult mission.

"But he's dead! He's supposed to be dead! Shizune, why do people keep coming back to life?" The Hokage's assistant simply kept her mouth shut.

"Where is he? Don't tell me he's wandering through the village."

"No," Yūgao sighed, "He is not in good condition. My team and I found him the forest just outside the village babbling nonsense and unable to see. Yamato suggested he be taken to the hospital but I didn't want to bring him into the village just in case he's just messing with our heads." Tsunade sighed in relief. Somehow she doubted that though. The Uchiha was meant to be dead. If he was now raving mad and completely blind Tsunade was not surprised. Only one thought occupied her mind though.

"Keep him away from his brother. Do not allow word of this to spread. No one is to know. I shall send a medic to attend him for the time being. Then tonight have Yamato move him to the hospital. We will watch him for now."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." The woman left and Shizune came in.

"Hokage-sama if I may make a suggestion? Perhaps we should not allow the Uchiha to be brought here. His presence alone may alert Sasuke to his brother's whereabouts. Who knows how much destruction could be caused? Perhaps it is better to let sleeping dogs lie." Tsunade's eye twitched at the final statement.

"You haven't been taking humour lessons from the Inuzuka have you?"

"No, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade rubbed her temples softly. How was it that everything always went so wrong when everything was going so right? They had been re-building the village and rebuilding their lives. Everything was fine but now...

"I will think on it Shizune-san. Thank you." Shizune left the office. Tsunade grimly realised she had an important message to deliver.

She wondered how her young ward would react to the news of having two Uchihas to deal with.


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NA: Okey dokes people. This is my first Naruto fanfic ever so... well we'll see. It's mainly centered around Sakura though other characters' points of view will be acknowledged as needed. That's pretty much it! Please Review!