Prologue
Time is a thin boundary value that we put on life, for life and love can span longer then time itself - Kitaro
She made the choice she should have decided on long ago; to stop this futile and one-sided civil war between the two men. He had once made her swear that she would never try to save him, just let his brother revel in his victory. She knew long before the truth she should have spoken words for saving, as she had grown to love the man she was raised to despise.
That's when she knew she had made the wrong choice, when she saw his lifeless form on her table.
She began to fall apart at the seams; ripping at her skin till all that was left of her face was nothing but bloody lesions, with masses of long, magenta hair on the floor around her feet as she stripped herself of the annoying tresses, the very thing she knew he loved, the walls around her crumbling with every blow from her balled-up hands.
Every time she had a bout of sanity, she would just fall away again, just like the time before, when he was there to catch her.
She had already shattered every mirror and window in her house with her fists, for all that she could see was him staring at her, asking what has she done to herself, almost as if he was reaching through this mirror to touch her self-inflicted wounds, only to tell her how foolish she's been, that he had be there all along.
But she knew he wasn't coming back.
And thus began her absence from the world, even when Nagato kindly offered her to join them within the borders of Sound, she would just as kindly refuse.
Or when all her friends tried sincerest condolences, with Tsunade giving her stash of sake to her almost-adopted daughter.
They all knew she had come undone, but she didn't care. He was gone, and that was all that mattered.
And she hated him for what he made her promise.
But then she had heard the legend of the Great One, the queen of all tailed beasts, the mighty ten-tailed Arediau, who was said to be able to turn back time with her beautiful voice, among other things. So she decided to partake upon a quest to find the source of the legend, if only to keep her reasonably sane for another month.
She did not expect the legend to become truth.
So she searched for the Great One, following every lead till she reached an ancient temple buried within the Land Of Snow, uncovering it with what she had left of her unnatural strength, baring entrance gate to all, walls adorn with the mark of the phoenix, a sign of Arediau's worshipers and ones said to be "Champions of The Great One".
When she went inside, a large statue is all she could see, so she placed his ring at the supposed altar and chanted her wishes to the loudest note.
"Ye have called for thy contract; ye speaketh yet still your desires when I know all!" spoke a strong voice from all around her.
"Yes, I have come with my sacrifice; I am willing to pay such dues for so be it my life or my soul, I ask you to bring Itachi Uchiha back from his grave and return to it nevermore!" cried the woman, her hood slipping slightly.
"Hmm... what ye offers is of greatest values in my realm, but I truly only express desire for one item that seems out of my reaches..." hummed the voice.
"Name your price, and I will pay it", said the woman, toning herself down to a whisper. Back in her mind, she remembered what he would say about her screaming.
"You need not be a soprano to get your point across"
A smile touched her lips, sinking in with her reminiscence.
"Ye think of him much, little one," said the voice with a hint of amusement.
Sakura was shocked out of her silence, causing her to look above her, where the voice now seemed to be coming from.
"Yes, yes, I do," replied the young woman, stunned.
"Then I asketh something to ye, good child"
"Yes, anything"
"In this world, there are precious things that men has lost to time, but these that know protect them, and these that believe in love, hold them dear. Tell me little one, do ye, ye who has lost your heart, believe?" asked the voice.
"I always have," Sakura replied, smiling softly again.
"Then it is time for your seal, my lady," spoke the statue, marble cracking as it began to move.
Sakura looked on in awe as Arediau emerged from her marble cocoon, shaking the earth as she had spread her rainbow-colored wings before her, releasing the strangest green hue.
And so the longing feeling came.
She could almost feel his arms around her, pulling her into his usual backwards hug that he would often give.
She was saddened to know it wasn't real, but still savored her temporary bliss.
"Come child, ye must hasten thy possession, for there will be much pain," warned the great phoenix.
"How much?," the woman asked.
"Much"
Then the giant bird and all it's colors became like liquid, quickly and steadily flowing into Sakura's belly at an alarming rate.
Then came the pain.
The searing inferno that began within her belly then worked itself to the rest of the body rapidly, leaving her screaming into the midday air to no one in particular.
Having fallen, she began writhing on the ground, still screaming. This had continued for hours upon hours, and days onto days, for she had lost count of the possible weeks passing.
But she knew when the seal was complete, for the brand of the fire bird marred her navel.
Arediau had begun to whisper instructions into her mind, telling her that "her time is now".
"Why?", Sakura thought back.
"Because he is here"
The red-haired woman smiled warmly, understanding her instructions.
"Then let us be in time"
In Time
Chapter One: Back-Step
Cold.
Everything is so very cold in the Land of Snow; the snow falling on the ground, the stone walls of this cave (in spite of a well-fed fire) and anybody in it, so as far as anybody was concerned, it could not get worse than this.
The lack of supplies, having been far from home for countless months, fear of and death from hypothermia, the only medic that was assigned killed during the mission, the blizzard raging outside, and of course, the hard-core captain of ANBU squads.
They called him a man of no heart, cold like it was outside in the snow, cold like the words thrown his way and back at them, cold like the atmosphere in this cave.
Imperturbable that he was, he never let the sneers or comments stick to him; just let them melt off like ice in the sun.
However, they never knew that he was a maelstrom inside, bearing over the actions he must take, emotions crashing and colliding behind the mask, seeming ever so straight-laced and unbreakable.
He had till the end of this mission to make up his mind; either he took the responsibility of the threat at hand, at his so-called home, and save his brother, or, or, he stands back and chances him dying by another's hand, leaving no escape for survival.
Most importantly, how was he going to explain his duty to his little brother? How would his brother take such news? How could he tell him that he must destroy everything the child knows?
"He would try to convince you otherwise," said a voice in the back of his mind.
His eyebrow twitched slightly, briefly betraying a hint of emotion.
Bundled tightly within the warmest cloak and blanket he could find, he settled down in the corner for much-needed rest, internal and external conflicts tiring him to the bone.
Truth be told, he almost did not want to come back, but he would have no choice but to.
He had to save Sasuke.
He awoke to a rather crude reel of shouting, stirring him from the depths of slumber that he so needed.
"Hey, Itachi! Get over here and look at this!" cried one of his teammates.
Itachi simply narrowed his eyes in the said teammate's direction, causing the man to shudder internally.
"I need rest, Kagi," Itachi protested firmly,
"Honestly, you need to see this!" urged Kagi.
Itachi's lip turned downward just slightly in annoyance, then rose from his corner, heading to where everyone else was standing, which just happened to be at the mouth of the cave, all the team staring into god-knows what, all in awe or great joy.
He glowered at them all as he passed, wondering what caused this malfunction in their training to show emotion like they are, till he reached the lip of the cave, where he was greeted by a great blinding light.
There was nothing there; just a great blinding light that seemed to entrance the group as they clamored about, save for Itachi. The captain peered about searching for signs of genjutsu, essentially finding none.
"What are you looking at?" questioned Itachi sternly, wondering about the mental state of his team.
"Can't you see it?" whispered Kagi.
"It's home!" cried someone in the group.
"Maybe they developed that new transportation jutsu!" said another.
The excited gurgle of conversation had traveled among the men, giving the feel of an ocean current, rushing, rising, crashing and swirling around them in a roar of excitement.
"Nonsense, return and rest," Itachi commanded. "We will continue traveling at daybreak"
Itachi had done retreated back to his corner; his sleeping time wasted, as far as he was concerned.
"Great, my teammates are going insane," he thought ruefully.
He chalked it to being the snow playing tricks with their vision; making you see things like a genjutsu would, oh, like say, the very place one would rather be than in the middle of nowhere during a freezing snow storm, as he had told them. There was nothing but white to be seen, and everything looked so covered that even he with his Sharingan couldn't define landmarks from the ground.
He had seated himself on the floor again, and being that it was very cold, he cursed that he ever left it, closing his eyes to reclaim his dreams, or lack thereof.
"Hey, Itachi!" someone called.
"Yes?"
Silence.
"Hello?"
More silence.
"Huh," Itachi huffed.
"Come here a minute!" said the voice, repeating itself within echoes, sounding more and more feminine, such as a gypsy would laugh.
Of course, how could he have forgotten about the tricks the ANBU lady folk liked to play?
Itachi was about to tell Natsumi to return to her post as guard and stop trying to play with him.
Wait.
There are no females in his group anymore; those that followed this trip had died during the mission.
Simply put, Natsumi is dead.
"Come closer!" the voice whispered now, calling from somewhere he couldn't place.
He stood instantly, letting all loose cloth fall around him, looking for the intruder who was speaking, not finding the face to put to the voice.
"Out here!" beckoned the voice, sounding urgent now.
He glanced towards the opening, his team long since departed from the lip due to his insistence that "all is an delusion".
Quickly unsheathing his katana, he headed to what seemed to be the source of the voice, to the mouth of the cave, to the outside in the snow, towards the light that griped his teammates.
Then the voice spoke no more.
He decided to continue onward, into the storm, activating his Sharingan along the way.
He went on for quite some time, seeing nothing but white, white and more white. However, what had come with this lack of color was the cold, leaving him shivering and nose running.
"Damn snow," he mentally grumped.
"There you are!" voice once again, this time much closer than it should be.
He then made a quick turn, trying to catch this strange "voice" plaguing him and in doing so, he got the surprise of his life.
The "voice" sounded though it belonged to a middle-aged woman, had come from a small red-haired child, who had deep forest green eyes, bluish-white skin and wore a flimsy, trailing, black night-gown with an odd expression of worry and happiness plastered on her face.
He let his compassionate side slip, for he grabbed her by the wrist and started to lead her back to camp, and when she had faltered, he had asked, "Should I carry you?"
She looked up to him with a smile that could melt away the coldest of blizzards in their clouds. "I have been looking for you," she said.
He broke contact with her wrist, backing away quickly to the left, sizing her up all the while.
Small, delicate, frail looking, frosted, innocent…
However, she held enormous amounts of chakra, untold yet untrained, total and utterly capable of destruction, all beautiful and wise pulled behind a knowing smile, yet hidden under the youthful and innocent body of a child.
"Not everything is as it appears, is it, child?" Itachi said icily, cursing his weakness earlier.
Her smile never faded, if anything, it only broadened, approaching the young man with her hands in the air, palms facing him so that he could see that she was without weapons.
"I have no fear of you; you need none of me, Itachi," spoke the child softly. " I understand how trust is hard to come by in these times, but I am the only friend you have".
He simply stared at her, putting aside the feeling of the whirling blizzard raging under his own skin, hand gripping his katana firmly, preparing a quick, life-ending strike .
"You haven't the faintest clue, do you?" the child asked, having stopped a foot from the captain.
He than began to move, asking no more questions for its been made clear that she is a spy sent by the enemy, meant to infiltrate the village and send crippling data back.
He is as fast as the light itself, no one has ever caught him, he has also never faltered before, yet when she raised her hands higher, far above her head, performing a scooping motion as if she were trying to catch the storm, he had frozen on the spot.
Unable to move, Itachi could only watch in wonderment as she radiated a strange emerald-green chakra from all over her body, causing the body to twist into something less than human, still smiling every minute.
The chakra colored the snow around them, reveling stones of a buried temple from people who long since past, casting the effect as if in a snow globe just shaken, whirling, spinning, and warm, for the love of the gods, it felt like home.
Though her form was still changing, she could see his reminiscence, thinking back when times were pleasant and not filled with terrible hardships. She sighed ever-so quietly, just one last time before she gave completely, ripping the last shred of humanity away from herself, revealing what she truly is.
His own eyes had widened, facing the myth that haunted the lands of books; the great ten-tailed herself.
He suddenly shut his eyes, calling his bloodline trait to him, gathered himself into a stance with katana in both hands, not realizing that this was far from an allusion.
The mighty bird still had her wits about her, though feeling tinged with annoyance, the child that she shared the body with was mentally grinning at his sudden actions.
Yes, the girl knew him, and paid a dear price to get here, so Arediau is sure not to fail her.
The great beast performed an action that made the sound of clapping thunder, for that is all that was needed for the procedure to begin its course.
The land twist and gave way, a rift breaching around them, the fear he tried to hide failing to be concealed, only to be ripped from the ground by the breaking land, through the wormhole of time into the land he is yet to know.
She had followed him, leaving behind the snowy, frosty world filled with cold, death, silence and despair, to the the one in her time, where the Akatsuki ruled the Sound, the tailed beasts roamed free and the place of his foreboding legacy.
And so we have begun time itself.
RAA: I hope you enjoy my new version of an Itachi – Sakura story. I will appreciate reviews, even the flamers, so don't be afraid to type your thoughts. Until then, chow!