Legend of the Death Rose (take 3)

Written by Annaliza O.

Started 1/23/2008

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters

Prologue

Sakura ran on, wandering around aimlessly in the labyrinth for hours, lost, until she literally ran into a dead end due to the lack of lighting. Slightly dazed she slowly got back on her feet. She frowned in confusion. She was almost positive the wall hadn't been there before. Her eyes slipped over the wall while she got lost in thought. Something caught her attention. In the middle of the wall there was a strange symbol. It was a crescent moon carved out of some form of silvery crystal, in graved within it was a sakura tree with a few blossoms blowing away in an imaginary wind. Running through it was a different type of crystal; it was a cross between crimson and onyx in color, and was carved in the shape of a long, slim katana. Noticing some engravings above it, she stepped closer, leaning in and squinting at the wall in the dim light. She froze, her eyes expanding in shock. 'Haruno' it said in long flowing letters. 'That's… that's my last name! No. No. This… this is a dream! Or… or a genjustu!' She though frantically to herself. She pinched herself hard. Nothing happened.

"Kai!" She harshly whispered out, her hands forming a hand sign quickly. Nothing happened. She gave an audible gulp. 'Why would anybody write my last name and a weird symbol here? Only clan names and symbols are placed down here! My family isn't part of a clan! I have no bloodline! And that symbol isn't any of the known clans! It's impossible! It… it… MUST be a fake!' Angry tears glittered in her eyes directed to anyone who thought this little prank was funny.

"Hahhhhhh!" She yelled as she threw a chakra-enhanced punch at the crystal, intending to shatter it. If it was real, she knew it wasn't going to shatter, if it wasn't, then it would. Sakura gasped. The crystal was unharmed. 'It's… it's real…' She let go a breath she didn't know she had been holding. The crystal suddenly flared to life, pulsing white, pink then red as if agreeing with her.

Hesitantly she reached out her right hand to touch the hilt of the crystal katana. Searing white pain shot up her arm and coursed through her entire body the moment she came into contact. Sakura let loose a blood-curdling scream. She tried to pull away, but found she couldn't, she was paralyzed on the spot. The pain multiplied a hundred fold as raw power started entering her. The pain grew continuously the power ran faster and faster into her.

Her eyes rolled back into her skull as the pain increase to an unbearable level. She felt as if she was dying over and over again, still feeling the pain and suffering from the previous death each time as they stacked upon one another. Suddenly images flashed through her mind.

.:Flashbacks:.

The sun was blinding. Sakura couldn't see anything. It was different than any flashback she had, had before. This was more like seeing a memory from someone else while still conscious. She found it rather disturbing. Suddenly the sun was cut out as a large complex came into view. 'That's my house!' She thought, startled. Though she never remembered it being this big, or part of any complex. The same clan symbol she saw on the door was painted on numerous buildings within the complex. Above an archway she saw the word 'Haruno' painted in crimson. Sakura was about to reach gasp when she was pulled into another memory.

.:Second Flashback:.

It was the same complex. Only, almost all the other buildings were obliterated to cinders and ashes. The rest were still burning. Only one building remained intact, amazingly, untouched. It was the house she lived in. Screams of people and children dying pierced the air and suddenly pain encased her body. Her eyes widened in horror as she felt the deaths of the charred corpses that used to be people that littered the debris. The pain increased as she felt the pain and deaths of the dying people that were trapped inside the still raging inferno. She let loose a silent scream before being pulled into yet another memory.

.:Third Flashback:.

An old man with a shaggy white beard and a willow cane looked out from a high jutting rock over a multitude of several hundred people. The Haruno clan symbol was imprinted on his cloak. He finally spoke, his voice much richer and younger then what would have been expected for a man looking his age.

"I have gathered you today under the most dire of circumstances. As you are well aware of we are being hunted down and exterminated. No child, woman, man, or elderly person left to live. All this in fear of the power we possess and fear of the newborn Sakura." 'Does he mean me?!' "They will soon find us here in our last place of refuge, and kill us, the remaining of the Haruno clan. Wiping us out forever. Out lives, our existence, at this moment is at best trivial compared to what we must do. Sakura must survive, her power is needed to maintain the balance until a side is chosen!"

"She may be powerful, but it won't be strong enough!" An anxious shout came from the crowd.

"That is why we must perform the sacred ritual and place out power within her. She will need it probably. If not, it could always come in handy."

"But the ritual will kill us all!" A man shouted out, fear gripping his voice.

"You will be crushed alive when the army comes in a matter of hours!" The old man amazingly was able to roar out.

"They will search for her! A baby with pink and red hair with crimson eyes will surely be hard to miss!"

"The ritual will make her almost god-like to humans. And because of her power and regenerative capabilities I will be able to tie a genjustu over the world that will drain her chakra slowly, until she can release it. This will prevent anyone from remembering our clan, she will be given an illusion of a family and it will change her appearance slightly just incase. Due to the chakra draining, she will appear only to have average abilities, and her bloodline and powers will be locked away until the day she releases the genjustu. Until then she'll be just your average kuonichi. It will be as if we never existed."

"But how will she find out?" Another voice asked.

"I have left our clan name and symbol engraved onto one of the walls of the labyrinth. Only she will be able to find it. Actually it will be invisible until she runs into it. The crystal will then relay our knowledge and power to her. Now we must hurry and begin the ritual, there isn't much time!" The old man walked with amazing speed down his podium and to the level ground below. He raised his cane with both hands, and then slammed it into the ground. The walls of the cavern shook, loose bits of rock fell from the roof of it. A glowing seal of chakra formed on the ground. The crowd immediately hustled into positions, the old man in the center. Together they began to chant in an unrecognizable language.

Raw energy drained from the people as they chanted louder. The chanting reverberated off the cavern's walls increase the volume. Soon they were yelling out. Silver, pure, raw chakra filled the whole room. In a brilliant flash it disappeared. Suddenly the people collapsed to the ground, the old man only falling to his knees.

"It… it is … f-f-finished." He managed to weakly whisper out, his breath short and ragged like those lying on the ground around him. 'They're all… dying.' Sakura realized. 'BOOM!' a large section of the cavern wall was destroyed in a millisecond, dust and debris filling the air.

"Well, well. What do we have here? The Haruno clan all dying? Tsk tsk! Though I'm rather glad you finished the work for me yourself I'm afraid your all dying much to slowly for my liking…I think I'll speed it up." A slithering voice called out from the dust from the blast. A shadow flickered in the dust before the dust pulled back to show a face Sakura never expected to see: Orochimaru's. Suddenly walls of blue chakra encased the helpless people. They started to close in, crushed and piling the bodies of the dead and dying, foot by foot. "You should have accepted my offer."

"N-n…n-never." The old man managed to croak out with his dying breath.

"Too bad. You would have made great vessels for my soul." Orochimaru's slithering voice was the last thing to remain defined, other than immense pain. Sakura screamed and screamed as the pain of the dead and dying being crushed flowed into her.

.:Flashbacks end:.

"SAKURA!!!" Naruto screamed out as he saw her enveloped in pure, raw silver chakra, darting forward to try to stop it.

"NARUTO! NO!!!" Kakashi pulled him back. "Sai! Help me hold him!"

"NO!! LET ME GO!! SAKURA'S IN TROUBLE!" Naruto kicked and yelled, unbidden tears falling from his eyes at the sight of his friend screaming in pain though she was unconscious.

"You go to her you will be killed! Sakura wouldn't want that! It's a miracle she's still alive to begin with, interfering could pose a further risk Naruto!" Sai snapped out, his face contorted in worry. It was unusual to for him to show any emotion, so for him to express something so vividly assured Naruto that he had Sakura's chance at surviving first priority. Naruto stopped struggling and yelling, though the tears continued to flow freely.

"I just hope she'll be alright." Naruto slumped to the floor as he continued to watch in horror at Sakura as she continued to scream.

Suddenly the flow of chakra increased tenfold and Sakura's screams stopped but for the occasional whimper. The mass of raw power lifted her in the air, hanging her there. Her eyes moved restlessly beneath her eyelids and she gasped. The crystal symbol on the wall shattered and flew into her body, remarkably leaving no entry wound. Her eyes snapped open. Their emerald green bled into crimson. Her hair grew to her shoulders then flared out, the tips of them discoloring from the sakura petal pink to a dark scarlet which slowly turned to it's original color a few inches before nearing the top of her head.

Her face grew more angular, her wide forehead disappearing. Her clothes started ripping, as she grew taller and thinner, until they burst and fell rejected to the floor. Her palms shifted upwards, clear diamond like 8-pointed star like shape protruded from both palms, the bottom, left, right and top crystal longer then the ones resting in-between them. One appeared on her neck and a smaller one on her forehead. Her eyes gleamed, and you could see shards of crystal in them if you looked closely enough.

Suddenly the last of the chakra entered her body and she gasped in shocked before turning unconscious, her limp body hitting the floor with a crash. Her comrades rushed to her side, quickly pulled out extra clothes and bandages to cover her immodest state. With a large poof they appeared out in broad daylight, Sakura being carried bridle style in Kakashi's arms.

"We've got to hurry and get her to the hospital!" Kakashi's voice was tight. He didn't want to loose someone close again. They sprinted to the gates, not heeding the guards, which ran after them. "Naruto yell for Tsunade." Naruto gave a grim nod. He took in a deep breath.

"TSUNADE-SAMA!!! GET THE HOSIPTAL! SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH SAKURA! IT'S AN EMERGENCY!" Naruto half screamed, half yelled at the top of his lungs. The whole village of Konoha knew now. The guards stopped running, and then ran back to the gate seeing that they weren't intruders.

"Good job Naruto." Kakashi gave a slight worried smile. Naruto just nodded and sprinted ahead to hold open the doors to the hospital. Tsunada was already there her eyes creased with worried. She gasped in shock as she saw Sakura.

"Room 3 on the right!" Shizune yelled out to them as they approached. They hurried her quickly into the room, setting up the IV and heart monitor as soon as they reached a stretcher. Tsunade managed to keep up and check Sakura's vital signs at the same time.

"She's going to be alright. She's just in a state of shock. Her body… seems to have increased in power over hundreds of times, and her chakra… I've never seen anything like it." Tsunade said in confusion and relief as they made it to the room. She quietly ushered them out. "She needs to rest. I'll let you in later." Naruto, Sai and Kakashi nodded, relieved that she would be okay. "What… happened to her? She's almost like another person. Her physical strength and agility… and her chakra… even her appearance! I want an explanation!" Tsunada demanded angrily. Sakura was like the daughter she never had to her. If Sakura was harmed she would make hell itself freeze over, kill the devil, and manage to somehow stop the planet from spinning just for a chance to get back at the person that harmed her.

"Well… we don't really know. We had gotten split up in the labyrinth. Suddenly we heard her scream. We managed to locate where she was by her screams, but by the time we got there she was unconscious, though still screaming. Silver chakra was pouring into her from the wall. There was a clan symbol on it, a crescent moon with a black… or was it red… katana running through it. Above it was written Haruno in flowing letters. Odd, I don't remember there being a Haruno clan. I've never even seen that symbol anywhere… anyways. The power continued to power into her at an alarmingly increasing rate to the point where it lifted her off the floor. The crystal the symbol was made of shattered and entered her. Her body then began transforming and a few minutes later the last of the power entered her and she hit the ground unconscious." Kakashi immediately responded as if giving a report. Tsunade's forehead became wrinkled as she thought deeply.

"You said a crescent moon with a black katana running through it?"

"Hai."

"Did this moon have a sakura tree in it?"

"I don't know. It was hard to see it. I only caught a few glimpses of it. Assuming there was, what does it mean?" Kakashi became worried; Tsunada wasn't one to ask questions about descriptions.

"I don't know. The symbol… it seems vaguely familiar. But I can't place it…" Tsunade started mumbling under her breath.

"Well, we'll just have to ask her when she wakes up then I guess." They all faced the door that led to Sakura's room wishing her a speedy recovery.