Summary: The Third Shinobi War left Sakura very little hope; left her seeking a new meaning in life. Itachi, no longer bound by the Akatsuki, stumbles across this lost blossom, and though her hatred for him has remained, she realizes that things have now changed…
Main pairing: Haruno Sakura X Uchiha Itachi.
Other pairings: Matsuri X Gaara, Hinata X Naruto, Temari X Shikamaru, and a few others. These will not play a part of the fanfiction, but they will be hinted at or mentioned.
Credits: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto! I have not invented any of them myself. (It might happen that I add a small character here or there. This will be clarified in Author Notes beneath the chapters if so). The story itself was developed, written, beta'ed, and posted by me. Which means that all reproduction, stealing, reposting (also elsewhere), claiming as your idea, and so on, is highly intolerated! If any of this takes place, I would like to be notified. Thank you!
Warnings: This fanfiction will contain foul language, character deaths, violence, blood, dirty/sexual scenes, and the general rating of the fanfiction is 15+. Please, do not read if you are younger than 15. Thank you.
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Chapter 0: The War
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Tsunade had sensed it coming. How one news after another spread across the country, left more and more people stiff and awkward by mistrust, not only toward the attackers but also their own passive Hokage.
Of course, she had taken the happenings into consideration, but she wished no war; she wished merely to speak to the leaders from Sound and Rain, hearing them out for the reasons behind their small regular border attacks. Not much had to be done to keep them at bay, but the whole point was not how many people she lost – it was the fact that she knew they were distracting her and planned something bigger, and that it was working.
For unknown reasons, the Hidden Sound and the Hidden Rain had decided to work together, despite logic. This was also an important issue she wanted to discuss with the two leaders, even though she knew that their company as it was, was enough of a threat. They were, after all, the only two countries who easily had created bigger destructions and doses of chaos in Konoha.
Orochimaru and Pein. Why would they work together?
During the few days she had arranged personal meetings with them and set out for her dangerous errand, they had set their plan into work, and both countries had attacked, Sound from east and Rain from west. Tsunade was informed and turned around as fast as possible, but even by the time she returned to Konoha, death and chaos had already swept into the city. Much had been destroyed and many killed – both ninjas and civilians.
As if this was not war enough, Tsunade immediately gathered all her troops and leapt into the war, not with as much eagerness, but at least as much strength.
It required no more than this. The Third Shinobi War had officially begun.
Sakura, being one of Tsunade's best medical ninjas, was assigned to be a field medic working by the eastern warzone, while Tsunade stayed in west. Everything seemed to go quite well for them, but that was until Orochimaru sent his specially trained ninjas in; there among Sasuke. And then, when it could not go any worse, Pein also set his primary strength in; the Akatsuki.
The threat became worst at the west end where the Akatsuki attacked, and ninjas rushed to the west in order to help out. There among the majority of Sakura's friends.
This was the last time she saw most of them.
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Two years had passed since the war.
Tsunade had managed to lead her people to victory, despite great loss, and the enemies had to withdraw their forces in order for the rest of them to remain alive. Since then, neither Sound nor Rain had made as much as a single move on Konoha.
A great loss, which had touched all in Konoha deeply, was the loss of Uzumaki Naruto. He and Sasuke fought their last fight, ending up killing each other. Somehow, this seemed to be the last happy ending the two of them could have after all what had happened to both of them.
But the people whom the dead had left behind were in terrible grief, unable to find peace, like birds flying bewildered round above and ocean, looking for somewhere to rest. It seemed impossible to find that spark of happiness, that glint of hope, and – worst of all – the meaning of life.
Sakura, having survived the war, too felt this unstoppable meaninglessness. There was no more for her to do here. Yes, she could work for Tsunade and help rebuilding the lost part of Konoha, but she found no meaning it in anymore. She needed to get away from the feeling of loneliness.
So she took her departure.
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Thank you for reading the prologue! ^_^
It might not be the most exciting thing in the world, but it contains a lot of information that you will need to know for future chapters.
Take care!
Love,
MangaAnimeLover 3