My long-awaited ninjaverse story is here! :D -cheers- I may be smiling now but not for long. Yes, Crisis will receive updates as well, and I apologize to those looking forward to those updates but this plot has been burning a hole in my mind forever.
This story is not for children, contains manga spoilers, coarse language, violence (including character deaths), explicit sexuality and plenty of angst. I do not rate my stories M without good reason, and I can assure you that this story is very much an M tale.
ItaSaku is our main header here, but it won't be moving quickly. There's a lot of plot that needs to get developed before anything of the sort can happen—and just so we know, I have changed the manga plot a bit, but if you haven't read 350+, you're in for a rude and confusing awakening. /edit: fixed the poem at the top: they are now lyrics.
Moving on: I do not own Naruto, I do not make money by writing this and if it was owned by me, there'd be a lot more character 'action', if you know what I mean.
Chapter One:
Kiss the Sky Goodbye
Baby, save me, Tell me that you wanna take me
To the place where we kissed the sky
Rain by day, shoot stars by night
In the dead of night, four blocks away from the Hokage tower and a mere half from the Konogakure hospital, a young girl lay sleeping curled up against her pillow, breath fanning against the sheets and disturbing chin-length pink locks as she dreamt about her possible future, ones where she would be married to a gorgeous man and be a strong, powerful kunoichi, commanding attention with a single step into a room and never once having to look back for fear that she had screwed up. She would be beautiful and legendary, no longer standing in the shadows of her team mates… Well, the ones that were left. Sasuke would never care, no matter how they tried to bring him back.
Not like team seven hadn't tried to bring him back… Time after time he had slipped their grasp, and the memories lingered on the edge of her subconscious as her mind forcibly steered away from the crippling night terrors for the first time in ages. It was hard on all of them, she knew, but none more so than her blond bestie—not the loudmouthed Ino, but the more obnoxious Naruto. Over time they had grown closer (not romantically, of course), and oftentimes the young kunoichi would have to forcibly eject him from her small, plain apartment.
Speaking of the jinchuuriki, why had his voice made a sudden appearance into her dream? Pale brows furrowed and creased as she stirred to the sound, eyes not wanting to open and believe that the real world actually existed around her, but then the tapping began, like a bird pecking the glass of her window. Tap… tap… tap… The sound was rhythmic and almost soothing, but when the delicious fog of her dream faded and the sound didn't, she couldn't help but groan.
"Sakura-chan?"
The voice was slightly distorted from the glass, but she recognized it regardless. Verdant eyes were slowly revealed as she cracked open sleep-heavy eyes, glaring at the man sitting on her windowsill.
Contrary to popular belief, Naruto was not a terrible ninja—far from it. He just tended to act that way to throw off the spotlight, saving his skills as a trump card in battle. It was something she was used to, and the kunoichi was hardly surprised that he cracked open her window and slipped inside with a grin when she beckoned to him and curled back up to sleep.
"'s matter, Naruto…?" Sakura yawned, eyes already closed as said friend sat on the bed next to her and picked at a pillow, grin fading at the question.
"I… Well, I know it sounds silly, Sakura-chan, but I… had a nightmare."
The medic opened one eye and creased her brow. It wasn't as if he hadn't had many nightmares before, but she supposed that since he went his entire life without having a single person to listen to his fears and worries she would at least do this for him. Besides, the kid looked freaked—he was pale and slightly sweaty, dark circles beneath his normally bright eyes.
"Wanna tell me about it?" Sakura asked him, gesturing for him to come closer to her. "I've got all night to listen, and then you can stay after."
He nodded, flopping down and pulling her close, as if she were a comfort object, resting his chin on top of her head. Sakura didn't thing anything of this contact, really—she never did, so long as they weren't in public—but was somewhat worried by how quiet and stiff he was. Normally he'd be making tons of perverted jokes and she would inevitably kick him out, but he was silent for a very long time before he opened his mouth again.
"The dream didn't start all bad… It was kinda in the future, and I was on my way to becoming Hokage… You were ANBU, Sakura-chan, and you looked hot…" Naruto grinned before wincing at the sharp poke she delivered to his belly, rubbing the spot briefly before picking up again. "And we were in Ichiraku, having some ramen. Hinata was there with me, and we were like… a couple… but then when she went to give me another bite of ramen the bowl shook. I felt the air rumble, too, and clouds started to gather, then it rained…
"But the rain actually hurt. It was like acid, and no one could stop it… People were screaming and then there was a smashing sound, and the gates were thrown open to let in a torrent of enemy nin… Kiri, Oto and Iwa nin, actually… Leading them all was Akatsuki," his voice shook slightly as he took a deep breath, closing his eyes. "And there was a guy in an orange mask, shaped like a swirl… He said that this was his revenge, and all he needed now was me.
"So we fought. You seemed really… really disappointed. You kept yelling at one of them that I couldn't see because the masked guy—Madara? I think that's his name—kept coming at me, and I couldn't focus on more than one thing. The guy you were supposed to be fighting said something to you that made you stop in your tracks and then they used Chidori…"
"Chidori, huh? Sounds like Sasuke-kun." Sakura's voice was soft, almost saddened by the dream that her best friend had, but she let him continue.
Naruto shifted slightly and shook his head. "It couldn't have been… 'cause the launched the Chidori at me. It went right through my chest… Then the masked guy grabbed me and we disappeared. I remember you screaming that this couldn't be happening, that there was no way they took me…"
She nodded, pulling him close when it looked like he was about to cry. "Naruto, it's okay… You know that was only a dream, right?"
"But it felt so real, Sakura-chan, and I—"
"Naruto." The blonde scowled at the firmness in her voice. "It was a dream… No one's going to attack Konoha head-on, and even if they did, it's not like Sasuke could ever beat you, right?"
"Yeah, you're right, Sakura-chan," he grinned, and snuggled into her bed again, seemingly relieved. "I could take that teme any day."
She smiled sleepily. "Glad you think so… Now lemme sleep, would you? Shishou'll kill me if I'm late again."
"Well you know, Sakura-chan, we are in bed together and if you need an excuse… Ouch!"
The sound of cracking knuckles was heard in the dark, which was almost as loud as the sound of a smirk pulling across her pretty face. "Goodnight, Naruto."
"…'night, Sakura-chan," was his grumbled reply before he began to snore.
By the time she had woken, showered, dried and brushed her hair, healed the bruise on her knee from where she had hit it while manoeuvring out of bed, Naruto had still been asleep. She supposed she'd let him sleep for a while before training and went to make breakfast, do some laundry, put some milk out for the cat, read over her medical journals twenty thousand times and then lose track of time, but that was mostly because of the deafening snores from the other room that let the kunoichi know that yes, the dobe was still very much asleep. Now, Sakura was usually a punctual girl but being woken by a rambunctious blonde in the dead of night did made her rather tired, and it didn't take long for her to conk out over her books.
Much to Naruto's amusement after he woke (and Sakura's chagrin, we can't forget that) she was napping like the cat she had such a love for and was now late. The blonde got dressed and had rapped her on the head, causing the roseate to start and swing her fist at the Kyuubi container, breaking his nose. She griped that he shouldn't have woken her like that and now they'd be even later because she had to heal his nose…
Well, she had certainly been right about that much: they were so late that Kakashi had arrived before them, nose stuck in a pervy book, leaning on a post as if he had been waiting for ages. Sai, on the other hand, was very much appreciating the time of silence and was drawing on a scroll until Naruto took it upon himself to toss a kunai and knock over the artist's ink pot, chortling to himself as if it was the funniest thing in the world.
Sakura didn't even bother to smack him upside the head: she was too tired. Apparently that much was obvious.
"Sakura, Naruto… You're late."
Shoulders slumped and grins widened respectively, and she muttered something about Naruto breaking into her house the previous night, but their ex-sensei merely shook his head with a casual eye-crinkle.
"Ah, Kakashi-sensei, like you actually got here on time anyway. You never do." Naruto chuckled to himself again, rubbing his nose. "Besides, Sakura-chan here broke my nose and we needed some time to fix it."
"It's too bad she can't fix other things, right Dickless?"
Said medic couldn't help but snort as she sat down to do her stretches, though her had cheeks flared a hot pink that reached the roots of her hair. The boys' 'playful' (read: loud, annoying and rather violent) banter was pushed from her mind when Kakashi sat next to her, book cracked open once again so that he could follow the words on the page.
"Porn melts your mind, you know, sensei."
"I'm not your sensei anymore, Sakura, and I think I can compensate," he replied loftily, flicking a page and crossing the other arm behind his head. She scowled.
"You act like you're all that, but I betcha your Sharingan's all messed up because of all that flaming content. Why the hell do you read that stuff, anyway?"
"It's art." Kakashi ignored her snort, and simply shrugged. "Don't knock it 'til you try it, Sakura-chaaaan."
Already pink cheeks deepened to red at the honorific, something she hated with a passion. "Don't call me that, you old geezer."
A look of mock offence crossed his mostly covered face, and she could see the pout right through the dark fabric of his mask. "Ouch, Sakura. That hurts, you know."
"You know what else hurts?"
"Mm… No."
"Being ignored for literary porn." Sakura punctuated the statement with a jab to his ribs, teasing lightly as she leaned over for a stretch.
"I'm not ignoring you."
"You're as responsive as a brick wall," she said dryly, rolling her eyes.
"I've had many a conversation with a wall, and they were quite lovely, thanks," he retorted, pressing a hand to her back to make her sink lower and whine at the added pressure to her muscles. Damn that man.
"That's because you're nuts..." Sakura pouted, catching her foot and bending her back fully to stretch the muscles. She hardly noticed his gaze, but quirked a brow. "What? Is my form wrong?"
He shook his head, eye creasing again to show he was smiling. "No, it's perfect."
The kunoichi beamed and switched sides. "Shouldn't you be warming up?"
"Nah. Y'see, on the way here I had to help this kid get his cat down from a tree, and that took amazing amounts of skill and really did exert me quite a bit…"
A hushed note of laughter left her lips. "You're an awful liar, sensei."
"I am not." Kakashi huffed teasingly and leaned to the side, effectively dodging a shuriken that Naruto had sent flying in his direction. Sakura sighed.
"What do you want, Sunshine?"
'Sunshine' pouted at the tone of her voice, and crossed his arms. "Don't call me that, Sakura-chan, it makes me sound like a gay stripper or something."
"The day you stop adding 'chan' to my name is when I'll call you by yours." Sakura said sweetly. "Now what do you want?"
"It's time to train! You and perv over there have been sitting and talking for ages. It's really annoying, you know."
She heard Kakashi's eyes roll rather than saw them as she did the same, rising from the dusty ground and stretching her arms above her head. "Alright, we'll get started. Tag-teams today?"
Naruto groaned. "But Sakura-chaaaan, you guys always win."
"That's because you and Sai never seem to work together," came the airy reply from the silver-haired man, and Sai's lips quirked into a slight smile as the blonde pouted. "Come on now, we'll go easy on you and everything."
"No Sharingan? No freaky strength?"
"…Now that's hardly fair, Naruto." Sakura nodded in agreement. "Sakura'll only use a bit of chakra, and I'll keep Sharingan to a minimum. Deal?"
The Jinchuuriki paused for a moment, and then nodded. "Alright, deal."
"Good." Another casual eye crinkle. "Now you two had better get running."
"…Why?"
Sakura's knuckles cracked ominously as she smirked. "Because I've got a few new moves I've been just dying to try."
Several hours and many broken bones, concussions, two dislocations and a poked eye later, Sakura and her dirty, blood-splattered boys are sitting in Ichiraku for dinner, while said medic is a makeshift triage. Of course the more she works the hungrier she gets, and Naruto's perpetual whining about his bloodshot eye isn't exactly helping the situation.
"Ouch, Sakura-chan! That hurts!" The blonde whined for the millionth time, prompting a smack upside the head that only made him whine more.
"Shut up, Naruto. You got poked in the eye." Sakura huffed. "That hit shouldn't have even happened."
"But it did, and it hurts," he retorted, swatting her hand away so he could devour his ramen. The medic rolled her eyes irritably and started on her own, ignoring Kakashi's pat on the head.
"Now, let's stop fighting, children. There's no reason: we're all mature ninja here." The Copy-nin crinkled his eye casually, ignoring both of their gripes as he drank some tea (through the mask, of course, because there was no way in hell he was letting them see his face yet). "Sometimes I don't know why I bother with you two. Will you ever grow up?"
"Probably not, Kakashi-senpai," said a voice from outside, the tone lazy. "They've always been so troublesome."
"Ahh, Shikamaru, they were more so when they were younger."
The lazy ninja shrugged and rubbed his shoulder. "Yeah, I know."
"Hey!" Sakura swatted at her ex-sensei. "I may have been loud and annoying, but I wasn't troublesome."
"Says you." Kakashi chortled, ducking to avoid another punch that probably would have fractured something.
"Cut it out, Sakura. I'm supposed to tell you something," the lazy ninja drawled, ignoring Naruto's scowl of disappointment and Sakura's look of interest. "You're supposed to go see Tsunade-sama. You have a mission or something."
"Oh?" The kunoichi instantly brightened, paid for her mostly uneaten ramen, and bounced off the seat. "What kinda mission."
"Hell if I know. I wasn't paying attention."
"And you say I'm troublesome." The medic rolled her eyes and strolled past him, punching his arm on the way out. "Thanks, Shikamaru!"
"Yeah, yeah… you're welcome," he replied, mumbling, as he took Sakura's vacated seat.
There was silence for a few minutes before Kakashi stood, yawned, and drained the rest of his tea. "Well, I think I'm gonna head off for the night. Later, 'gators."
And so he was gone in a puff of smoke, leaving Naruto to stare blankly at the spot where his senpai had been a moment ago. "Why does he always leave when Sakura-chan does?"
"Maybe they're getting together and having hot, sweaty sex on her kitchen table," came the sarcastic reply.
Naruto wore a look of scandalized horror. "Shikamaru, ew! That's Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei you're talking about!"
The dark-haired man shrugged. "I'm just stating possibilities."
"I think Ino's finally rubbing off on you."
"…Shut up, Naruto."
By the time Sakura arrived at the office it was about ten o'clock at night, having been stopped by various people who needed things delivered to the buxom, blonde Hokage, who seemed to be having a bit of an issue sorting through her paperwork as it was and wouldn't let anyone in her office without the treat of impending doom over their heads.
Sakura, of course, being the Hokage's apprentice, was apparently immune to these things and would be perfectly fine knocking on the door with her arms full of papers after her shishou told her she could come in.
The look she received was one she had been expecting, but that didn't help the fact that she grimaced at it.
"Sakura, what the hell. I told Shikamaru to just get you and bring you up here, and you just bring me more paperwork?"
Her shishou sounded rather distressed, and the young kunoichi grimaced as she put the scrolls and files down on the one blank space on the desk, trying to ignore the fact that the blonde looked as if she was going to tear her pink-haired head off.
"I'm sorry, shishou… I tried to avoid it, but everyone's too scared to bring it in themselves," she replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "But I was told I have a mission, so I had to come anyway, and yeah…"
"Oh, right. That." Tsunade leaned back in her chair with a sigh, rubbing her eyes before picking up a scroll and tossing it at the younger woman, who caught it effortlessly. "A-ranked, solo, medical mission. Apparently some Fire Lord's having some serious issues with his health and needed a medic… He requested you by name."
Sakura blinked. "Really?"
"Yes, really," she replied, a slight smile pulling on her tired features. "You are getting pretty famous, Sakura."
The medic reddened, and nodded sheepishly. "So what's wrong with him?"
"Well…" the Hokage started, expression darkening. Sakura's stomach dropped: this so could not be good. "He has a bad respiratory system already, a weak heart—sounds like pulmonary edema to me, but I'm not sure—and recently caught pneumonia. He was injured, too—there was no indicator as to how—and has burns, several lacerations, broken bones… Oh, and he's going blind. Have fun with that one."
"That's quite the list." Sakura murmured, unfurling the scroll. "Shouldn't you or Shizune be doing this one?"
"One: he requested you. Two: I'm busy, Shizune's busy. Three: I have confidence in you, Sakura. You can do this," she sighed, rubbing her temple. "But don't screw this up. This mission is worth enough to keep you living comfortably for a year."
The medic swallowed, and nodded. "When do I leave?"
"Tomorrow morning. Stock your kit, pack a bag… You should be gone three months, tops. Any longer and we're sending someone after you, alright?"
"Yes, shishou," the roseate replied with a curt bow. "I won't let you down."
Tsunade smiled. "That's my girl. Now get going: you should leave around dawn to get there by noon. Instructions are enclosed."
"Of course. Goodbye, Tsunade-sama." Sakura smiled back, and left with a click of the door, leaving Tsunade alone once again.
As the blonde surveyed the room she realized something was missing… Oh, that girl so did not take her sake!
The buxom Hokage stood and rifled through the papers, face slowly reddening as she realized the decanter and cup had been taken and replaced with a mountain of paperwork. Damn that child!
She flopped back with a scowl, slumping in her chair. The girl was observant and smart for her age, but something about this mission had struck her as odd. The Lord's name had not been disclosed and Tsunade had protested sending her student, but the council had overruled her, saying that the village needed the money—which was true, meaning that the younger medic was sent along anyway.
Amber eyes flickered to the window to watch the small figure hop from rooftop to rooftop, already eager to be getting such a large assignment. Tsunade sighed: she was honestly worried, and made a note to herself to buy a lottery ticket.
It seemed that too many people she loved were being put in danger for the sake of her village… She only hoped she wouldn't lose another one.
"Itachi."
The Uchiha didn't respond verbally to the voice. He merely cracked open his bleary, dying eyes and looked impassively to the right, seeing nothing but darkness. There was a figure there, he knew, one that he detested more than anything on this earth, but the other man would not be visible in the poor lighting of this dimly-lit cave. His brother was here too—he could feel the boy's chakra, healthier and far more substantial than his own. He should have died at his brother's hand, but of course the man in the shadows had ruined that chance.
Said man in the shadows seemed to realize the Uchiha was focussing his attentions on him and continued talking. "Konoha sent word today. Your medic should arrive by noon tomorrow."
Itachi's mouth set in a grim line before his lips parted, his voice weak and raspy. "I do not want a medic. Send her back."
There was a laugh. "You don't get a say in this, I'm afraid. You haven't worn out your usefulness yet, Itachi."
As usual, he was simply a tool. Always the tool: for his father, for Konoha, and for this man. He tried to sigh, but couldn't gather enough air in his failing lungs, instead coughing harshly and wetly, blood seeping between his fingers as stars popped in front of his eyes.
In the moment it took for his lungs to settle the other man had crossed the room, the flickering light of the candle making him appear far more devilish that normal. Itachi held up a hand to stop the masked man from leaning over him, but it was brushed away as if it were nothing.
"Please do not… Madara." Itachi panted, bracing himself with one hand as he tried to sit up, using all of his willpower to try and activate the Sharingan. He knew it wouldn't come, not when he was like this, and could do nothing but stare listlessly as the other Uchiha guided his face upwards.
"You need the rest, Itachi." A glint of red, fingers tightening on his jaw. His mind screamed out in protest as Madara's Sharingan bore into his eyes, tomoe slowly spinning to forcefully induce sleep.
The younger man felt his will leave him and his eyes grow heavy as he fell back into the bed, bones crying out in pain from the feeling. Things would be better if he were dead, but apparently fate had other plans.
As sleep gripped him, Itachi became sure that he was going to take down Madara one way or the other, and perhaps meeting this medic would be the very first step.
A/N: Boring starting chapter is boring. I'm sorry it couldn't be more interesting… xD; It gets better next chapter, I promise!
Chapter is UNBETA'D. I'm looking, but sometimes it takes longer than one hopes...
Review? :3 I love them so hard.
