Author's Note:
I've seen so many time-travel fics but never one with the pairing SaiSaku! It's so unfair! So I decided to write my own. Oh and don't worry, I haven't abandoned any of my other fics. Hope you enjoy! Please review after you finished reading. I would like some feedback.
Disclaimer:
I do not own Naruto or any of its characters
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HOURGLASS
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Summary: Sakura never expected to get sent back to the past with Sai of all people. Now they must save Konoha for the sake of the future. And what's this, Team Seven is going to be a four-man squad?
Pairing: SaiSaku
Genre: Action / Adventure / Romance
Speech:
"Talking"
Thoughts
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Chapter One
-Sands of Time-
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Haruno Sakura had always known her shishou, Konoha's Godaime Hokage, Tsunade, to be an sake addict woman but she swears that the blonde must have had a bit too much to drink to come up with an idea such as this. There was no way on Earth that she was able to complete such a mission. After all, Sakura had only just been promoted to ANBU a few days ago. She still hadn't had the chance to go on an S-ranked mission yet. This mission was most probably over S-rank! Sakura swears that Tsunade must be secretly plotting to get rid of her.
That evil woman…
"Shishou, can you please repeat that once more?" Sakura almost begged in a desperate manner.
She could only wish that this was all just a terrible dream.
To her right was a black haired man with pale white skin. His coal black eyes shone with no emotions whatsoever at the news.
The temptation to bang her head on her desk was strong but Tsunade held it back. She sighed once more and repeated herself to her agitated apprentice.
"I'm sending you both on a mission back to the past. Although he's not a threat at the moment, I'm sure Orochimaru will one day attack Konoha, along with Sasuke."
Sakura swallowed at the name.
"We must do everything in our power to prevent this and I believe that we should start from scratch," Tsunade explained, resting her chin on her crossed fingers.
"Ah, I see," Sai spoke up as he smiled blankly.
"B-but why me, why us…why him?!" Sakura whispered the last part as she pointed an accusatory finger at the ANBU Root operative.
Even though it had been three years since she had known the black haired male they still couldn't have a decent conversation with each other for a minute before the insults would erupt. Although Sakura knew that it wasn't done on purpose, this never stopped her from sending him on a one-way trip to the hospital, thanks to her inhuman strength. You would have thought that at least by now Sai would get the message 'don't mess with Haruno Sakura'. Every now and then he would call her 'Ugly' or 'Hag' or even worse a mixture of both. Despite the fact that it was not a deliberate action, Sakura still felt the need to teach the man a lesson. Tsunade knew that they wouldn't get along really well, so why was she insisting on sending Sai?
"Sai is at ANBU level and he is familiar with dangerous missions such as this. I'm sure you would want to work with someone you're familiar with other then a random ANBU, am I not correct?" This came out more like a statement.
"Then what about someone else, like Neji-san or Shikamaru? They're ANBU level as well," Sakura protested.
Tsunade frowned. "Neji is the Hyuuga clan heir. So he-"
"I thought Hinata-san was the heiress," Sai interrupted.
"She decided that she wasn't suited for the position and asked for the position to be handed over to Neji, who is more than capable of handling such a role," the blonde explained.
"I see."
"Then what about Shikamaru?" Sakura inquired.
"He's Konoha's best strategist. You think I would send him away from the village when he's best needed here. Although you guys are going to change the future somehow, you don't expect us to just sit back and watch as Orochimaru kills us off, now do you?"
"No…" Sakura looked crestfallen.
It was clear that Tsunade would not change her mind on this.
Tsunade smiled slightly before turning to Sai, holding out a scroll for him to receive. Sai accepted it without questioning.
"Once you arrive, show that to the Sandaime Hokage and from then on out follow his orders."
"Does that mean we won't be able to return to this time?" Sai inquired.
"Well, yes, but only once," the blonde explained.
Sakura raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
Tsunade opened the bottom drawer of her desk and took out an item. She held it out to Sakura. Sakura took the item and examined it. It was a silver chained necklace with a small golden hourglass attached to the chain. The rosette turned the hourglass upside-down and watched with curious eyes as the black sand fell.
"It's a necklace," Sai stated the obvious.
Tsunade nodded. "You're right. But it's not a normal one. This is one of the ancient time-travelling artefacts that have been found by Konoha. All you have to do is put the necklace around both your necks, insert your chakra into the hourglass and turn it anti-clockwise. The number of turns depends on how far back in years you want to travel. For you two, six turns would benefit," she explained. "Just remember, turning it anti-clockwise will take you into the past whereas clockwise takes you to the future. I would suggest that you only travel back in time no more than once otherwise it could disrupt the balance between space and time. If that happens…well, let's just hope it won't."
Sakura nodded.
"…Hokage-sama," Sai suddenly spoke up after a moment of silence.
"What is it?"
"When you said 'this is one of the ancient time-travelling artefacts' does that mean there's others out there as well?"
Tsunade inwardly smirked at his sharpness. "Yes, in fact there are more artefacts out there. Three to be exact but don't bother questioning about them. All I can tell you is that their locations are unknown, even to me."
Sai nodded.
"Alright then, I think it's time to get this mission started. Sakura, hand me the necklace. I need to place it around both your necks."
Sakura handed the necklace to her mentor with a dazed expression on her face. Did she just say around both our necks?
"Damn right she did!" Inner Sakura exclaimed, pumping her fists.
Wait…then that would mean… Her eyes widened in realization.
"Sai, hurry up and move closer to Sakura. I don't have all day," Tsunade said, tapping her foot impatiently with the necklace in hand.
Sai nodded and then without warning, grabbed Sakura around the waist and pulled her against his chest. Sakura could feel heat beginning to travel towards her face. She could feel the beat of her dark haired teammate's heart pounding gently against her chest. Sakura sucked in a deep breath, taking in the smell of pine and mint.
"Sai smells so delicious!" Inner Sakura drooled.
Sakura almost rolled her eyes. Great…I'm turning into a scent pervert, she thought.
If Tsunade had a camera then she would not hesitate to take a picture, but for now she just settled for a light smirk. For many times in her life, Tsunade had tried numerous times to set Sakura up with someone, although her apprentice kept refusing her offer. At first the blonde thought it was because of a certain Uchiha but Sakura had explained to her that she never did love Sasuke. It was just a crush, which she mistook for love and paid a hard price for – a broken heart. The Godaime Hokage now knew that her apprentice was not saving herself up for the Uchiha; she was trying to avoid falling in love, afraid that her heart might break once again.
Tsunade had suspicions that this was why Sakura had decided to join ANBU in the first place. She wanted to rid herself of emotions to protect herself from other emotional pains in her life. Tsunade hated seeing her this way but if this was the path that she chose to take then she won't stop her. But still, the idea of Sakura running around in ANBU uniform, killing off all those people, like a cold-hearted monster, made Tsunade sick to her stomach.
She missed the old Sakura.
But after seeing Sakura behave the way she did today with Sai brought a microscopic smile to her face. Perhaps her apprentice would not change after all, she mused noting the blush on Sakura's face.
Shaking her head slightly out of her thoughts, Tsunade stepped forward and chained the necklace around their necks.
Sakura shifted uncomfortably. "Uhh…shishou, it's kind of tight," she said.
"Sorry, can't do anything about it," Tsunade said, inwardly chuckling at her apprentice's despair.
Sai just stood as still as a statue, although you could tell that his hands were itching to rip the necklace off of their necks.
"Now then, touch the hourglass with your finger and insert your chakra."
The two did as they were told. Immediately, the sand in the hourglass turned grey.
"Now turn it anti-clockwise six times."
Sai grabbed the hourglass and turned it six times slowly. Once he was done the sand in the glass changed colour once again from grey to white. A few seconds later, light engulfed the entire office.
Tsunade shielded her eyes. When the light ceased, no one was there besides her. With a sigh she sat down tiredly on her chair.
It worked.
She spun her chair around and glanced out the window, down at the village. Children ran through the streets without a care in the world and shinobis acted out their daily lives, unaware of the huge devastating war that was soon approaching.
She clenched her fists.
The fate of the future now lies in the hand of two teenagers – Sai and Haruno Sakura. But will that make it in time?
After all…
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…time was running out…
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…as we speak…
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Author's Note:
Bah! That was like such a lame ending! I suck at those things… Sorry if it wasn't that interesting but it's only the first chapter. I try and make the next one longer but I won't make any promises. Please review! Flames are not accepted but constructive criticism is. See you in the next chapter! Meanwhile, please check out my other stories (though they're probably not that good :P)
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-Setsuna