In the middle of a giant battlefield fought a powerful shinobi, fighting against the enemies which tried to invade his homeland.
His armor was shining in the dim sunlight and was covered in deep red blood and no one could tell whose it was.
All those loud screams of terror and pain felt like a horrible curse within the battle smoke, followed by loud clashes of kunais and swords which were aiming to kill mercilessly.
Seeing became harder because of the thickening, gray fog surrounding the ninjas, feeling like a suffocating curtain that stole the breath out of everyone's lung.
Countless jutsus were spoken while the leader of the army kept on fighting to protect his people, no matter how exhausted he was.
How many hours passed since this fight begun? The shinobi didn't know, and he didn't find the will to care.
Despite his morals, he did good in turning off every human emotion within his heart, throwing away his guilt with every life he took during this war.
Killing became a mechanical process which became even more monotone a few hours ago.
No exhaustion, no guilt, no fear was clouding his mind for he knew that human emotion was nothing but pure luxury that he could not possess, much less afford.
This was a battle and he had to do anything to protect his people and to keep his homeland safe, no matter what…
"AAAAH!"
The fighter stopped in his tracks when he heard the familiar voice, green eyes full with worry and when he saw it, her breathing stopped immediately.
His silver-haired sensei was lying on the ground with blood covering his entire body while his armored enemy was standing over him, his sword risen and ready to strike.
Green eyes widened full of shock and barely a second later, the leader reacted.
"KAKASHI-SENSEI!"
As if devil was after him, the shinobi ran while making sure to counter every attack and dodge every weapon without turning his gaze from Hatake Kakashi.
His heart was racing like crazy when the enemy swung his sword for the kill, making the ninja scream like he never did before in his life.
"NOOOOOO!"
Metal clashed against metal and the leader blocked the sword with his kunai, stopping the deadly attack just in time. Green eyes narrowed in desperation for his opponent was more than strong, making the leader's hand shake after a few seconds.
"Careful! Behind you!"
Kakashi's voice was full of desperation, his coal eyes widened when he saw the second ninja leashing at his student from behind, hating the fact that he was no longer able to move!
The leader -who just beat his opponent and wasn't able to focus- turned his head, green eyes blank with shock when the attacker formed several hand seals.
"AAAAAAAAAH!"
The leaders body was suddenly tied up without being able to find a way to get free, no matter how hard he tried.
No. No, dammit!
"LET ME GO!"
"I will after I kill you.", the enemy promised, a devilish smirk touching his lips.
He pulled out his kunai, aiming for the leader's head who was now sure that his life would end right here and now…
"RASENGAN!"
-If it weren't for the blond haired shinobi that ended the attack with his favorite jutsu.
"Hey! Are you guys alright?!"
Backs touching, both ninjas stood before their sensei, watching carefully at their surroundings and making sure that no one would sneak behind Kakashi.
As one of the most powerful ninja from Timea, Hatake Kakashi had many enemies which was the reason why it was so hard for him to fight during a battle without being horribly injured.
"Yeah… Thanks, Naruto.", the silver haired shinobi panted.
"Well, it looks like I made it in time, dattebayo!"
"Yes. Yes, you did."
Two best friends narrowed their eyes, making their selves ready to end this war.
They would win. No matter what happened, Timea was not to be destroyed and the leader and the jinchuriki would rather die than giving up their homeland…
.
….….….
"Hey… Come on, you should rest, Sakura."
Tenten was worried about the pink haired kunoichi who stood right before the flickering flames of the campfire, looking with a passive look at the golden and red colors as if she was… dreaming.
"Hm? Ah… no, we have to find something to eat first. I'm okay, really-"
"No, I asked Kakashi Sensei and Rin Sensei to do it. Your leg's still bleeding, you need to take care of yourself and rest.", Tenten pleaded, he hazel eyes full of worry over Sakura's health.
"Alright… Thanks, Tenten."
Knees weak and shivering, the young Haruno managed to sit down and was more than relieved for no longer having to stand and just relax for a while.
"Hey Sakura…", a blond shinobi grinned at her who didn't ask when he lowered himself right beside her, being careful with his hurting arm Ino took care of earlier.
He was… happy. No, that was an understatement for Naruto was literally beaming with joy.
Haruno Sakura was a 21 year old woman and the blond's best friend.
The young kunoichi owned long, fluffy hair which shined just as pink as cherry blossom trees during spring and eyes greener than emerald.
Her slightly tanned skin and full lips made her appear like an exotic beauty and the shinobi almost laughed about that.
Because who would think that this small woman would be the leader of a whole army?
"Your leg…"
Both ninja looked at the bloody fabric of her upper leg which covered the painful injury she tried to hide from her comrades, however, Naruto was not to be fooled that easily.
"Oh… Right."
Sakura ripped the fabric of her pants and took a good look at her wound, swallowing when she saw the dark blood liquid coming out from the deep gash.
It was almost impossible to keep on fighting with a cut like this but Sakura had to admit that she didn't really feel the pain until the fight ended.
"Oh, that's… nothing, really. It barely hurts.", she lied, knowing that Naruto saw right through her lie but didn't say anything about it.
Instead, he took the medicine he got from Tenten and Kiba and spilled the green, thick liquid right over her bleeding injury, making Sakura hiss from the sudden, burning pain.
"I'm sorry, Sakura…"
"It's okay, really.", she just brushed off. "I'm good now. Thanks, Naruto."
Feeling relieved, Sakura sighed deeply and looked to the dark sky covered by shining, small stars.
"We won the fight, Naruto. Nothing but the end of the world could upset me now."
Even though the fight was gruesome and horrible, even though they had to kill too many ninja, they won. Every hour of hard training finally payed off in the shape of delicious victory, regardless if they wanted a war or not.
Timea, their homeland was still free without being threatened by anyone.
"Do you regret it?"
Sakura blinked a few times and looked at the jinchuriki, who appeared to be more serious than she was used to.
"Do you regret building the army?"
His short but reasonably question caught her off guard but that didn't stop her from giving him the one and only answer.
"No."
That didn't surprise the fox ninja.
"Do you?"
"Hell no, dattebayo!", Naruto said enthusiastically.
"After everything we did to come that far, I'm not gonna regret a thing! We kicked their asses and I'm damn happy about it!"
. .
The story of the two best friends started with Haruno Sakura. Too many years ago, the young kunoichi lived with her funny father and her beautiful mother in a small village, being happy and loved. There was absolutely nothing Sakura missed, she was so incredibly happy that… it shouldn't surprise anyone that it ended so horribly. Her parents, however, grounded the first army of Timea and took care of literally everything. However, they were killed nine years ago. Her parents came back from a hard fight and she didn't need to be a kunoichi to see how exhausted they were. Sakura remembered how she fall asleep with her mother and father, sharing one last peaceful memory with them before the unthinkable happened. She became an orphan in the age of 12 and lived in the streets since. There was nothing like mercy when she stole bread or water to survive. One day, she decided that it was enough. The problem was that Sakura possessed no chakra. She was not able to learn a single jutsu and even though she was interested in healing, she was only able to heal small injuries, not even That's why she started to perform her own tai-jutsu so she could at least surprise her opponents which worked out quite The pink haired leader . She was Her entire body was hurting from hunger and thirst, especially the latter. She was hungry. Praying that it would rain soon, Sakura wanted to cry which was impossible for her. She staggered father, her will to survive still flaming in her dry body for she hoped for a miracle that would save her miserable life… "Hello, pretty girl." "What does a pretty girl such as you do in a dark alley, hm? At night no less…" Sakura would've swallowed if she'd have enough spit to do so, but there was one thing for sure. His smirk spoke more than a thousand words and when he made the first step…
Anyway, Timea had no hokage and no army. The land was politically empty, a place where only the strong survived and the weak died.
The army wasn't very big but shinobi from Timea were incredibly talented, strong willed and very skilled. The Haruno's were the reason why Timea wasn't invaded, they were the reason why
Enemies stormed into their cottage and attacked, knowing how tired and exhausted the Haruno's were. Her mother hid her barely awake daughter, kissing her cheek, her forehead, her hair while whispering her last words into her ear.
'I'm sorry, sweetheart. You have to be strong, Sakura, you will survive and you will find someone who will love you just as much as we love you…'
For two years, she was seen as scum, a lowlife with no future or worth.
Sakura was pushed around by others, being too sad over her parents death to even think about fighting back… She actually wanted to die and reunite with them I the afterlife.
She didn't care to count how many times someone punished her for stealing, even if it only was one slice of bread or water.
The pinkette was tired to being pushed around by everyone, she was sick
And that really annoyed her because self healing would've been so helpful that time…
The Haruno didn't know why nor had their parents, but she did not own chakra to practice jutsus at all, even though her parents were incredibly powerful ninja.
Not only that, Sakura learned that you don't need a single jutsu to be strong enough to defend yourself against enemies…
She remembered everything about that day because she knew that she would've died miserably without her blond best friend…
The young girl was walking through the dark streets, looking for something to eat, something to drink. She was facing death and she was too weak to be scared.
Never in her life had Sakura been so close to death.
For two days she wasn't able to drink water and Sakura felt er intestines burn from horrible thirst. Dehydrated wasn't even close to describe how she felt for Sakura felt literally empty.
Walking was something that felt like the hardest challenge, almost as hard as breathing.
No, even worse.
She was
Sakura needed water more than air..!
She was too
She tried to wet her lips but her tongue was just as dry and did nothing to help.
Her staggering stopped and Sakuras lifeless eyes looked at a boy, who just had to walk through the same alley. The 14 year old blinked weakly, barely registering his appearance.
He seemed to have dark hair, but that was all she could see in the darkness.
This boy… was not a friend.
That ninja was someone who'd want to hurt her, there was no mistake.
Sakura knew that she had not the power to run away.
The young girl tried to speak up, tried to say anything, but her throat felt like a dried lake, incapable of forming any words at all.
But when the male made his first steps to her direction, she felt panic rushing through her body which became even worse when she saw his grin turning into an evil smirk.
His eyes didn't even tried to hide the way he looked at her thin body that was shaking in fear for Sakura knew that this person would be her downfall.
Whatever he would try to do to her…
She wouldn't be able to stop him at all.
Not like this.
"I...I-I… have… t-to leave-", she barely managed to croak out and turned away, however, he didn't let her go off that easy and stopped her by holding her tiny wrist.
"Where are you going, beautiful? I could give you a few really good hours..."
Her heart pounded against her rib cage and for a moment the pinkette thought she'd just throw up.
If she just had her strength…
She swore, she would've beaten his sorry ass for even looking at her.
"N-No… Please, I-I… need t-to… leave-"
She tried to free herself with no effort for his grip became even firmer, already bruising her sensitive flesh.
"I'm sorry, honey. But I'm afraid you're too pretty for your own good."
Suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, her back hit the wall and Sakura's breath was knocked out of her dry lungs. Her body shook like leafes in the wind, her heart hammered in her chest when she felt absolute horror about what as to come.
"No… No..!"
"HEY!"
Three heartbeats later, the stranger was thrown off her and Sakura's eyes widened when she saw a blond male grabbing him by his collar before he smashed his body against the hard floor.
The blond savior threw the dark haired boy a dirty look, being more than disgusted by the scene he had to witness only seconds ago. He didn't even realize his eyes not being blue but blood red in color, his fury was so immense that he had no control over himself.
"You disgusting son of a bitch...", he bit out menacingly.
The actually blue eyed shinobi didn't have to be a genius to know what he tried to do to that girl…
"Who… who are you-", the 16 year old boy groaned but when he realized the blond hair and demon eyes, he didn't even need his answer. He knew the name of the 16 year old savior.
"U-Uzumaki Naruto?!"
"Indeed."
Naruto was known for being the ninetails jinchuuriki and even if he hated the fact that people avoided him for just that, he was more than happy about him having the ability to scare people off.
"This was the first and only time you try doing this, Hojo."
Naruto knew that rich bastard but still wasn't afraid to threaten him.
"Not only will I tell everyone about this, next time I won't go easy on you.", he threatened.
"You'll be dead before you can even lay a finger on a girl ever again. Got it?!"
Hojo nodded hysterically, didn't look as strong and confident as he did minutes ago.
There were only a few fools in this land who dared challenging the jinchuuriki and Hojo didn't belong to those.
"Y-Yes! I promise, I will never… do this again!"
Hearing this, the disgusted ninja harshly let go of him, watching him running for dear life before he turned around to face the pink haired beauty he just saved.
Really, being a jinchuuriki really was handy sometimes…
"Are you okay?"
The tension left her body almost immediately when she heard his voice and before she could answer, her knees buckled and finally gave in.
"Hey!"
The fox ninja caught the girl, checking her to see if she was hurt.
"What happened to you? Can you hear me? Are you sick? Do you need something..?!"
She wanted to swallow but her throat was still too dry.
"Wa...ter...-"
Naruto's eyes widened as he understood her critical condition before he tightened his grip and ran to a certain direction.
"Don't worry, you will be okay again. Just hang in there, dattebayo!"
He carried her to a meadow over a hill only Naruto knew. Being forced to live on the streets, Naruto learned to fend for himself, having built his own, big tent with enough supplies to survive. He was a little older than her and being feared for being a monster, no one dared hitting or attacking him…
Not anymore.
"There..."
He placed her on the floor right before his tent and Sakura could hear how he was looking for something. She didn't know exactly what, but to be honest…
She was just about to pass out and she stopped caring about everything.
"Here. Come on, drink this."
Her dull eyes opened when she realized his demand and Sakura tried.
She tried reaching out with her hand, tried taking the bottle but before she could even touch the object, her arm fell. Sakura had no energy left in her limb body.
Her body almost looked lifeless to the blond ninja..!
"No, no..! Come on, open your eyes, dattebayo!"
He hold her upper body up with his arm before he brought the bottle to her dry lips, making sure that the water would definitely enter her barely opened mouth.
When Sakura realized the cold, long-awaited wetness inside her mouth, her eyes widened and she begun drinking.
"There you go. Drink as much as you want, we have more than enough.", the shinobi smiled while he witnessed the life returning to her body.
Sakura drank faster, almost screaming of happiness when she felt the cold liquid feeling like molten gold in her throat.
Her body jerked and she begun coughing uncontrollably.
Understanding that she had drunk too fast, he carefully slapped her back and was more than relieved that she seemed to be okay again.
She calmed down again and turned to the blond ninja to thank him, but he put his hand on her shoulder and smiled kindly.
"Wait a minute, I'll be right back."
With those words, he left the now confused kunoichi who wondered why he went off so sudden.
.
.
.
Naruto returned a few minutes later and made sure to light a campfire. Sakura's eyes widened in awe when he staked a few fishes to the ground, making sure the flames were near enough to perfectly grill them. He also took more water and a stick of bread from his tent before he finally sit down next to her.
"Well, that took me long enough.", he joked lightly.
"Sorry I couldn't talk so much. I didn't even tell you my name, right? Well, my name is Uzumaki Naruto."
He turned around the fishes before he continued.
"And who are you?"
"I am Haruno Sakura.", she answered, finally able to use her voice again.
"Haruno you say? Does that mean you're the daughter of-"
"Yes."
Her parents were heroes who were known by practically everyone in Timea.
"And you are the ninetails jinchuuriki..?", Sakura asked for she had recognized his name.
Naruto nodded approvingly, however, he didn't seem as happy as he did before.
"It's a real honor to meet you."
Naruto blinked several times, made it more than obvious that he wasn't used to being treated like an actual human being.
"You… You're not afraid of me..?"
"Are you kidding me? You just saved my life!", she almost shouted at him.
"Thank you. Without you… I'm sure I would've died tonight."
He just laughed as if helping her was no big deal.
"Come on, I don't want any gratitude for that.", he brushed off.
"But I'm kinda curious. Why are you alone? For a pretty girl like you it's damn dangerous to walk around the streets, dattebayo."
Her eyes saddened almost immediately because answering his question would mean that she'd have to remember that day.
"I'm alone, Naruto. My parents were killed four years ago. I was ten years old and since then..."
She swallowed harshly, memories of her parents started burning her eyes.
"You're alone since then?!"
He was… shocked.
Sakura looked like a fragile, little person, seemed to be soft and so easy to break.
He actually didn't belong to those kind of people who let their selves influenced by mere appearance but… no one would think of her as a powerful fighter.
"I am."
Her answer tasted bitter. For both of them.
"I'm sorry.", he said sympathetically, however, Sakura brushed it of.
"Don't be. After all… You're alone, too."
It was more than obvious to her, really. The tent, his food, the way he just… was-
There was no doubt that he too was left behind.
"That's true. I was raised in an orphanage but left it years ago."
He told her everything about his life, how he was raised and pushed away by basically everyone. Sakura found out about how he had to fight to survive, how he had enough of those people hating him just because he was a jinchuuriki.
Naruto was grateful that he finally met someone who didn't see him as a monster.
"I knew that leaving the orphanage would be dangerous but I guess pride does that to you. I wasn't gonna stay where I'm not welcome."
"I am really sorry, Naruto."
"It's okay. I can take care of myself, dattebayo- Oh!"
He almost forgot the food and took the stakes in his hands.
Sakura blinked as Naruto put three fishes, bread and water right in front of her, smiling from one ear to the other about her flabbergasted face. But she looked… careful, seemed to be hesitant. More so, the Haruno felt shame push against her chest.
She wasn't used to be treated like this, never had someone who'd help her.
Her parents were the only people she depended on.
"Hey, come on. Eat. You need to gain your strength back."
He understood that she was ashamed and grinned, before he took a bite.
"OUCH! OH MY GOD, THAT'S HOT!"
Sakura giggled about his funny expression and handed him the bottle, feeling even more comfortable immediately. She looked at the stake in front of her and swallowed, feeling hunger eat her from the inside out.
And when she took the first bite…
She almost cried.
Yes, Sakura almost shed tears.
The last time she eat such wonderful food was too long ago, she barely remembered it.
More so, the Haruno felt like a real princess, a goddess almost. After all, she had bread, fish and water for dinner and it took all of her self control to not stuff her mouth too much.
She could feel her body gaining more and more energy, that horrible, disgusting weakness wasn't as heavy anymore.
Finally, after so many days of hunger and thirst, Haruno Sakura felt strong again.
Just as strong as the kunoichi she actually was.
"Thank you.", she then said, her eyes were greener than before, almost shining from the new energy she got. "If it weren't for you… I would've died miserably-"
"Don't.", the 16 year old interrupted her.
"There's no reason to thank me. I'm glad you're okay now, dattebayo."
"You just saved me from that stranger."
The pinkette knew there weren't many people in this land who would interfere in a fight, however, Naruto didn't even think about hesitating.
"Nah, that guy's a bastard and should be happy he's still alive."
Really, he almost regretted letting him go that easy.
"But hey. Your chakra totally changed, yo know. Are you a shinobi or something?"
The young girl looked at the flames before her and struggled for a few seconds.
Should she tell him? Everyone always laughed at her when she told them about her dream, so should she really-
No, Naruto wasn't like that. Sakura had the feeling that he would not see her as a foolish girl with ridiculous fantasies.
"Yes, I am a kunoichi.", she answered quietly.
"I train every day to survive and created my own tai-jutsu, Naruto. But unfortunately, I can't practice nin-jutsu."
Eyebrows furrowed, the blond ninja looked more than confused about her admission.
"What? You mean no one taught you how to use it or..?"
He really didn't understand.
"No. I just can't use my chakra like that what's weird because I can definitely feel it inside me and use it to heal wounds. That's why I focused on my tai-jutsu."
The fox ninja nodded understandingly and folded his arms before his chest, thought about logical reasons to explain her critical condition.
He didn't find any.
"Well, that really is weird but hey, you don't need nin-jutsu to be a ninja. Tai-jutsu is the most important ability and you should keep improving that, dattebayo."
"Yeah… That's what I'm trying. Because one day I want to-"
She hesitated again, wasn't sure if she should continue.
"What?", he pushed and saw how unsure she was. "Come on, spit it out. I'm curious now!"
"I want to build an army one day to protect Timea from those attacks.", she blurted out.
"I'm sick of seeing my village being attacked by others and getting smaller every day. I'm done seeing people live a miserable live or get killed. My parents started living their dream of freeing Timea and just because they were killed their dream shouldn't be forgotten. I don't want Timea to stay as miserable as it is. It shouldn't be a happy coincidence that our land wasn't occupied yet, shannaro..."
Sakura swallowed and gave him a determined, strong look.
"I want to save Timea from it's own downfall."
For a long time the ninja looked at her with raised brows, the surprise on his face barely hidden for he had not expected to hear those words from such a fragile looking girl.
Her eyes almost spit fire, her words were more than determined and her words sure.
She had that dream and would do everything to make it reality.
Sakura wasn't sure how the jinchuuriki would react because after all, she was a girl.
A woman.
No army would voluntarily follow her, much less take her seriously.
No one would follow a woman who can't even use nin-jutsu.
"That sounds awesome, dattebayo!", he suddenly blurted out, surprising the girl.
"Like… come on, Timea is a joke! We have no king, no kage, no politics, no rules- We have nothing! And I would love to help you building that army. It's about time we start kicking asses and-"
"You don't think my dream is ridiculous?"
Naruto eyebrows were raised when she asked him that.
"Why should I?", he replied while she looked at him as if the answer was obvious.
"Naruto, I'm not only unable to use nin-jutsu, I'm a woman. No one's gonna follow me, they will all laugh-"
"Sakura, come on. If you don't respect yourself for all your strengths and weaknesses, no one will.", Naruto said, sounding really wise for his age.
"You have to accept yourself and stop worrying about others. Look at me. I'm being called a monster by everyone but I stopped giving a damn about them years ago because I stopped hating myself for being a jinchuuriki. So just relax and train, the rest is gonna be one hell of a nice surprise, dattebayo!"
He sounded so honest, so optimistic that Sakura was almost forced to believe his beautiful sounding words. Naruto made her feel like her idea of Timea wasn't just a silly dream, but her actual future that was just about to come true.
He was the first one who didn't laugh at her and even convinced her to keep trying.
"And you really think people will join my army?", she asked, eyes innocent and hoping.
"Of course! Look at me, you just recruited your first soldier."
He pumped his elbow playfully against her arm, grinning from ear to eat.
"I'm in, Sakura. From now on, I'm gonna help you turning Timea into a strong village, dattebayo!"
His eyes were shining like a blue ocean, his voice full of sincerity which literally shocked the pink haired kunoichi. Never.
Never before had she met a person who admired her for having this dream. Never had she met anyone who would want to join and help her making it true!
The blond ninja stretched out his arm then, holding his fist before her chest and made her laugh for Sakura had the feeling that this sign was his way of sealing a promise.
Sakura pumped her smaller fist against his and laughed for the first time since her parents died. She felt warm inside and had the feeling that meeting Uzumaki Naruto was… everything.
"Would you like to sleep in my tent? I uh… I won't do anything, I swear. But it's pretty cold and my tent is kinda big, so I just wanted to-"
"Thank you. You have no idea how thankful I am, Naruto."
"Stop thanking me!"
Both shinobi then started their new life together and trained every single day while trying to find more and more volunteers to build their army. It was a slow, agonizing process but after they met Hatake Kakashi, the army grew almost immediately and Sakura and Naruto watched their small group developing into a huge, powerful army.
So many strong ninjas lived in Timea and shared their idea of an ideal Timea and now, seven years later, they were not alone anymore.
They built cottages together, marketplaces weren't a rarity anymore and even crimes weren't committed that often.
Timea was finally strong enough to survive without being attacked by countless villages.
And Sakura knew that meeting Uzumaki Naruto must have been her fate. They trusted each other without doubting the other for even a second.
They were best friends but even…
Sakura couldn't explain but starting her life with Uzumaki Naruto didn't just feel wonderful, it almost felt… familiar.
It took an eternity but Sakura was proud that they made it that far.
Timea finally was an independent land and they would never give up defending their home.
.
.
.
"Why should we regret coming this far? Sakura, Timea was saved thanks to you, dattebayo."
Sakura laughed, her cheeks touched by soft redness over his words.
"What are you saying? I couldn't have done anything by myself. You, the entire army made Timea strong again, not me."
"Yeah, but no one would've moved a finger without you."
Naruto and Sakura turned to the lazy voice and smiled when Kakashi Sensei, Ino and Kiba joined them and the pinkette was more than relieved that her female blonde friend managed to heal their wounds perfectly.
"Tenten's okay again, forehead. I gave her some of your drugs and she literally passed out-"
"Stop calling my medicine 'drugs', shannaro!"
Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura loved each other but still had their friendly banters here and there which really amused their comrades.
"Oh yeah whatever, stop bitching and listen to my question, Sakura.", Ino said, ending this topping quickly.
"When will you finally expose yourself?"
Hearing that hated question, Sakuras eyebrows twitched for she knew which conversation would follow.
"Come on. Over three years passed since we built the army and no one but us knows that you are the leader. I think you should step out of the shadows and tell them."
Her close friends were the only ones who knew about Sakura's hidden identity of being the leader of Timea who was responsible for the immense changes in this land.
Sakura indeed was proud of their accomplishments and wouldn't reduce her efforts, however, the 22 year old was… scared.
After all, she was a woman. A woman without any special abilities, a woman without the ability to use any jutsus.
Everyone was happy with the image of a strong, powerful man leading their home, so how could she expose herself and shock them with the fact that it was a mere woman with pink hair and no nin-jutsu who turned out to be the leader.
Shame and fright stopped her from telling them the truth.
"Soon..."
All three of them groaned over her answer and Sakura was glad Tenten was sleeping because she probably would've slapped her for that answer.
"You said that last week.", Kakashi reminded her and she didn't need to take off his mask to see the disapproving expression on his face.
"Yeah. Just like the week before. And the week before. And the week before. And the week-"
"Thank you, Kiba, I get it, shannaro..."
"But we are right.", Ino said. "It's about time. Stop shitting your pants and speak up."
"How? Ino, how am I supposed to do that? I'm a woman and I don't want them to laugh at me or… or be mad! We can't take any risks that would cause harms to Timea."
"That's ridiculous.", the masked ninja commented, his eyes never leaving his beloved book.
"You are strong and I don't understand why you're reducing yourself so much. The army will be grateful, no one's gonna hate you, Sakura."
"I'm not reducing my abilities as a ninja, Kakashi Sensei. It's their opinion about all this that makes me nervous..."
A heavy sigh left her and Sakura pinched the brick of her nose because yes, she knew they were right. The pinkette never doubted that.
"I will tell them, okay? Just… give me some time -shuit it, Kiba, not again!- and I'll do it."
Her comrades sighed but trusted her decision for they did understand her. Forcing her would be foolish because she had to be ready to take that step, so they would just support Sakura's decisions.
"Fine.", Ino grumbled, leaning her head against Sakura's shoulder.
"But please, don't wait too long. I don't want them to find out about your secret from someone else, okay?"
"Don't worry, they won't. Tenten, Rin Sensei and you guys are the only ones I trust."
And Sakura knew that none of them would tell anyone about her secret.
The four comrades talked and ate together, trying to calm their selves after that horrible fight. Even though they were exhausted, the ninjas took their time to enjoy little moments like these for every day was dangerous and could be the last for them.
They would fight, no matter how dangerous life would get.
After everything, they would fight for freedom and peace.
For a life without fear and sorrows.
No matter what happens, Timea would never stop fighting.
.
.
.
However, there was one land that already kept an eye on Timea.
A village that was ruled and leaded by a strong hokage and was feared for it's immense power by every village.
A leader, who never lost a single war.
Uchiha Sasuke.
.
.
.
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Hello and welcome to my probably most difficult project ever :D
"Born to live" belongs to my second biggest fanfic which I already publishes a year ago.
It's really weird to start over again, ya know. This fanfic is actually effing long (350,000 words) and I feel so nostalgic writing the first chaps again, it's really crazy lol
Anyway, you guys should know that Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto are all kinda OOC because this is is AU fanfic. No Uchiha massacre, no Madara Uchiha- none of that.
In fact, I started this ff long before I started watching Naruto and just decided to use my idea for a Naruto fanfic hehe
And there is one more thing.
Guys, I am a passionate writer and love spending hours writing a fanfic. However, my German writing abilities can be considered as good, but English is my third language.
It kinda bothers me that the English version of "Born to Live" is never going to be as good as the original version, but I'll try anyway. But please, go easy on me :,D
I'm really excited about your reations!
My German readers love this fanfic and I can't wait to find out how you all will react to it because, as I said, contains very OOC characters like… Ino.
Oh my, I can't wait to present my version of Ino ;D
Until next chap, guys!
Love
Fifi-Uchiha