The Pink Marionette
I do not own Naruto or anything related to it.
Sakura was alone, in a world devoid of feeling. She could feel nothing, but could hear words that seemed to haunt her...
"Women...They just love to do...Completely pointless things. Heh heh..." The voice was the one of the man who brought her to this world, but only because she asked him to.
Because of the offer he had made to her.
"Would you like to try this body? If you did, you would understand a little of what it's like."
Suddenly Sakura looked into a pair of eyes, just like hers.
Sakura's own eyes were vibrant and full of life, gateways to her soul. The ones that she peered into now had nothing within.
They eyes she saw were hers, and were not hers. They belonged to one who had abandoned their humanity.
The person the eyes belonged to, the Pink Marionette, then spoke.
"Tell me, was your sacrifice worth it?" she asked. "Can you even guarantee this will help you bring that traitor home?" her voice was empty, devoid of emotion, yet Sakura could tell she was trying to mock her.
The traitor was Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura's old teammate, who had left Konoha to go to Orochimaru. He betrayed everyone close to him, in hopes of gaining power and killing his fratricidal brother, Itachi Uchiha. That's why Naruto was endangering himself now, why she needed to be stronger to protect him.
"And what about that failure friend of yours? Are you skilled enough to defend him, when you needed help to take down one Akatsuki member?"
Sakura was struggling within herself to respond. "I am strong enough..." she said, unconvincingly. "And I'll do all I can to protect them!"
"Feh, your body may be stronger, but your resolve is still weak!" The doll taunted, "Without it, you'll never change, or protect your precious one."
"I will!" Sakura yelled defiantly, "Sasuke's important to me, Naruto hasn't given up on him, and I'll never abandon him either!"
The Pink Marionette laughed humorlessly. "You really dote on that blonde fool, don't you?"
Sakura could feel her cheeks flushing, as she felt a mixture of embarrassment and raw fury. "Shut up you st-"
Before Sakura could finish, she awoke.
'Again?' Sakura thought to herself. This was the fourth time she had that nightmare, since the day Granny Chiyo died.
Sakura was starting to get scared, she had made a choice on that day, one that changed her, and that she feared would change more than her physical self.
'I'm just reading to much into it...I better get to training.' Sakura thought. There were less than seven days before she, Naruto, and two other shinobi had to go to Tenchi bridge near the Grass village.
Sasori of the Red sand, a member of the Akatsuki who Sakura and Granny Chiyo defeated, told them that Orochimaru would be there, and Sakura had to be at her best before then. 'I can't sit back and let Sasuke slip away...I promised myself that I wouldn't be dead weight and let Naruto get hurt!' The Kunoichi thought a she geared up and left.
Half an hour later, Sakura was at the training field, wearing a new outfit she had recieved. It was identical in color to her old clothes, but it was a cloak similar to that the Sand shinobi wore. She thought it would pay homage to the deceased puppet master she had learned so much from. On her legs were four scrolls, all of them held by special holsters.
Sakura started with target practice on a few nearby logs. She opened her palm towards the wooden figure and instantly it was riddled with dozens of senbon.
Next, her hands were surrounded by a faint magnetic aura, courtesy of Granny Chiyo infusing her new hands with the third Kazekage's Iron sand.
Using them she called back the medical needles until they circled around her due to the magnetic powers she now held.
Once she had recollected them all, she followed up with a flamethrower technique, inspired by Sasori's own ones.
The wood was incinerated, but put out by a spray of water she also emitted from her palms, or more specifically the barrels on her palms.
"Okay...So far so good." Sakura muttered to herself. She heard leaves rustle and saw a few birds fly from a nest they had built and far off in a hurry.
She noticed that a few squirrels and other animals had also fled.
She frowned slightly and decided to give the animals some peace by changing locations.
The 15 year old walked off into the distance, when she saw a few large boulders. Perfect for testing her new strength.
Sakura channeled her chakra into her fist and felt four spikes protrude from her knuckles.
As her hand made contact, the boulder shattered like they usually did. This time, however, a few fragments actually embedded themselves into other objects.
They had a blue glow about them, as if her chakra was channeled into them as well, making them much more dangerous.
Finally she tested the chakra scalpels. Unlike Kabuto's, these were actual blades that extended from her finger tips. Once more, she imbued her hands with a dose of ninja energy, and the blades glowed pink. They were now strong enough to cut through most other materials like butter with little to no effort.
Especially flesh...
She saw another sizeable rock and slashed at it. The parts of it she touched were cut away, leaving flawless claw marks.
Sakura had finally finished training with her new body parts and was ready to head home. She retracted the scalpels turned around to leave, but was greeted by none other than Naruto Uzumaki.
His face held a mixture of confusion and fear, but his body language and posture told Sakura he was ready for a fight, if need be.
Sakura could feel her hearbeat quicken, and her body grow warm. She pretended that everything was normal. Naruto wasn't the brightest guy around, and Sakura thought that if she didn't let anything on, he probably would dismiss the evidence.
Sakura didn't give her friend enough credit.
"Oh, hi Naruto. What are you doing out this far from the village?" Sakura asked, sounding innocent enough.
"I was sorta following you." Naruto admitted.
"Why? Is something you want to ask me?" Sakura questioned. Of course she was expecting him to ask for another date. She and Naruto had gone on one date in the past, after they had sparred with Kakashi.
Thinking back, Sakura did have a great time having ramen with him, but she wanted to make him work a bit by playing hard to get before she accepted.
"Well no..." Naruto said quietly, "You've been acting weird since Granny Chiyo died and I wanted to check on you. Then I hear some noises and..."
Sakura noticed he was about to look at the scarred environment and decided to get his attention back on her.
"Well, that was nice of you, but I'm fine." Sakura said sweetly.
"Yeah, but you changed Sakura...What happened to you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I saw you." he said seriously, his voice was firm but not accusing. "Your like one of Kankuro's puppets now..."
Sakura sighed, she had been found out by the one person she wanted to protect. Naruto was already taxed enough, and now he was worrying about her, Sakura felt a twinge of pain in her heart.
"Well I might as well come clean." Sakura said, her expression was one of lament. "You remember Sasori, the Akatsuki member Granny Chiyo and I fought?"
Naruto nodded, still watching Sakura.
"Well, after we beat him, he made me an offer. It was because I didn't understand how he had become so cold, and so twisted that he could try and kill his own grandmother." Sakura continued. "He asked if I wanted to become a puppet like him. I saw how powerful he was, and thought it would help me get stronger...to help us bring back Sasuke."
Naruto kept silent, Sakura couldn't fathom what he was thinking, but still she wondered.
"So your still human?" The blonde asked.
"I sort of am. I only had my limbs changed." Sakura explained. "Since I didn't change myself entirely, I didn't need the chakra producing core."
For a while the Jinchuuriki of the Leaf was quiet, but within minutes he spoke softly.
"You didn't have to do that..." he told her, his voice beginning to crack. "It's all because of me!"
"I know, but I'd do anything to help you." Sakura explained, "You've made so many sacrifices to try and save Sasuke, and I couldn't stand by and let you bear the burden yourself."
Still, her words barely had an affect on Naruto. The blonde's face had a single shining tear, and he looked like he'd never forgive himself.
If he had stopped Sasuke two years ago, Sakura wouldn't done this to herself. In his pained blue eyes, this was proof that he was a failure as a friend.
As more tears accompanied the lonely one that had rolled down his cheek, Sakura came closer to Naruto and held his hands tenderly.
He looked into her green eyes and saw that she was saddened as well, but she was there to comfort him.
There was a deep warmth in her eyes, they were filled with the strongest emotions any person could ever feel...True love.
"Naruto. It's not your fault. I chose this for myself so I could protect you," she told him. "And no matter what, I'll always be the same Sakura, and I'll always be there for you!"
Naruto sniffled and began to wipe his face with his sleeve. "Sakura I..." Naruto started, but his words were stopped by Sakura's lips on his own.
The kiss was long and loving, two and a half years of pent up emotion released at once. It was the best thing either teenaged shinobi had ever felt.
After a few minutes, Naruto's heart rate went back to normal, and he decided to talk again.
"I, I love you Sakura." he told her, after so many years of waiting, "and I want to thank you for protecting me."
Sakura smiled softly. "No, thank you Naruto." his teammate replied, hugging him. "You did so much for me when we were younger, and I didn't appreciate it then. But you inspired me to be stronger. Now I know that your the man I really love."
Naruto put out his hand and Sakura took it in her own as they walked back to the village. With that, no more words were exchanged between them for a time but they did spend the rest of that day together, and many days after.
That night while she slept, Sakura had fallen back into the empty world. Once more, the Pink Marionette appeared, but she no longer scared Sakura.
"I see you've returned." The malevolent doll stated blandly. "Have you finally realized how pointless your efforts are?"
Sakura smirked. "No," Sakura said calmly. "As a matter of fact, I've just realized how far I've come."
"Hmph, well please inform me. I could go for a laugh about now."
"At first, I thought that this change would only send me into the darkness. That I'd become like Sasori, emotionless, cruel, and evil." The green eyed girl told. "I see now that you represent that fear, as well as a few of my other doubts."
The Pink Marionette nodded, "Well well, you figured it out, congratulations!" the cherry blossom colored doll taunted. "I suppose you could say I'm like 'Inner Sakura', only more dangerous."
"No, you were more dangerous, but because I gave you power over me by not facing my fears." Sakura said confidently. "But thanks to a certain hyperactive knucklehead, I believe in myself and my choices. From here on in, I'm standing by my decisions."
"That's sweet, but foolish. Do you think you can really go on without regretting what you've done?"
"I do, so long as I have my friends by my side." Sakura said before charging some chakra in her right hand, without further warning she slugged her doppelganger.
Slowly, the puppet's parts began to crack and fall to the imagined ground, clinking as they made contact and faded. "U-Ugh...!"
"It's been nice knowing you Pink Marionette, but I don't think I'll be seeing you again." Sakura told the dying creature, before it dissappeared and she awoke.
From then on, Sakura Haruno never again encountered the Pink Marionette, but dreamed instead of becoming a better ninja and friend.
She never once lost her confidence again, and had gained the strength to protect her beloved.
And from then on, whether she dreamt or waking, her true love was with her, and everytime her soft, jade eyes met his deep cerulean ones, they began to shine with the beauty of life.
Especially when they kissed.
THE END!