Author's Note: Hey there! Most of you might recognise this story :D For those who do, my account was unfortunately hacked. Well my gmail account did and I can't seem to log back in into my fanfiction account. So this is my new one! Yay.

I never thought I'd get this many support and love from you guys. You really made the experience of writing my first story an unforgettable one. So thank you! This version of the story will have more in depth. I realised I overlooked so many characters and so many other possibilities that could have turned the story even greater. So please enjoy the ride!

DISCLAIMER: Naruto and all its contents belong exclusively to its rightful owners.

Full summary: An unexpected incident, sends Sakura into the past. She has a chance at saving everything, but as the wise say 'Playing with the hands of times brings you the most deadly consequences,' However, Sakura was not one to be intimidated ... especially if a certain silver-haired nin was by her side.

Flaming Heart

It came like a thief in the night.

The village's bells rang loudly, deafening its habitants with horror. Fire spread out like a plague, its flames licked the buildings with a strange haste. A lone figure watched the hospital crumble down. Her lower lip trembled and she bit it down; almost as if she was trying to erase any signs of weakness. A loud explosion startled her – turning around, the pink-haired kunoichi faced the hokage tower. Tsunade-shishou would need her. Pushing chakra to her feet, she hurried as her inner voice screamed with worry for her loved ones.

Sakura came to a sudden stop as she spotted the somewhat familiar silhouette. He had grown taller since she last saw him. A small part of her was ecstatic. He was back. He was home. However, the smarter part of her was not easily fooled.

"Sakura." The Kunoichi tensed when he pronounced her name. His voice was soft – very unlike him.

"What have you done?!" she yelled at him, pinning the dark-haired boy with a furious glare.

"You wouldn't understand."

There it was. The Sasuke she remembered all too well. The days when he always belittled her were neither forgotten nor forgiven.

"Why?" Her shoulders trembled slightly as she tried to supress the tears that threatened to fall down.

He turned his head slowly, his dark eyes burned into her green desperate ones. A wicked grin graced his extremely pale features making her step back. Memories of the day when she almost died, by her own poisoned kunai flashed before her eyes. Her stomach churned violently as everything about the boy In front of her screamed of darkness. Sasuke Uchiha was no longer in a place where she – or anyone else – could reach.

"Naruto is the one you should be worrying about," he told her in a matter-of-fact tone. The wicked smile slowly disappeared – replaced by a dead serious expression.

She answered him with a glare. He looked almost surprised to see hatred taking over her once fearful, innocent face. The thoughts running through her head would have shocked her years ago, but now she embraced the hatred she felt for the Uchiha with wide open arms. She grinned and watched with satisfaction as Sasuke's eyes widened slightly.

"Oh don't you worry, Sasuke-kun," she forced herself to keep grinning, "I will end this ridiculous quest of yours right here, right now,"

She disappeared and reappeared right next to Sasuke, forcing him back in order to be able to dodge her kick. She didn't let this deter her, instead she kept attacking him. A punch on his left and then on his right.

"He's constantly thinking…" she delivered blow after blow but he was faster and dodged them quite easily, "… about you! Always blaming himself!" she threw a kick at his leg and watched in satisfaction as he was forced to block this time, "and you deserve none of it!"

"Hn. He's a fool." He replied, barely managing to dodge another punch. She screamed angrily and he in return offered her a mocking smile.

"Sakura!"

The medic-nin stopped on her tracks as Kakashi's voice sounded from behind them. Her gaze stopped on her blond team-mate standing close to the masked-nin. Naruto's sad blue eyes broke her heart all over again.

"Sasuke," Naruto's blue eyes met dark inexpressive ones, "What have you done?"

Sakura cringed at Naruto's croaky voice. She watched impotently as Sasuke positioned himself in a battle stance. Naruto lowered his head, both his hands closed into fists. She wanted to get in the way, to make them see how all of this could be fixed somehow. But could it? Could it be fixed? The answer was obvious to her and even more obvious to the two of them.

She gasped when Naruto suddenly reappeared behind the Uchiha, the blue ball of chakra on his hand quickly hit Sasuke's back. Her eyes widened in horror as Sasuke's body disappeared and in its place was a wooden trunk – a replacement jutsu. She wanted to yell at them, to bring them to reason! She wanted to do something! She wanted to be able to stop all of this. A heavy hand squeezed her shoulder, making her whirl around to face her worried sensei.

"There are still Akatsuki nins in the village."

Even now, he still shielded her away. She knew what everyone thought of her when Sasuke Uchiha was concerned. She was not a silly little girl in love anymore! She shook her head but he increased the grip on her shoulder making her look up at him with tears swimming in her emerald orbs. Her silent plea was promptly ignored when he roughly shoved her away.

"You're a medic nin. Everyone is counting on you."

She swallowed hard and hesitantly walked away, shooting one last glance at what was left of team-seven. And then she ran. She ran until her muscles were on fire and she had a stitch in her side. She ran through the streets and alleys, not really conscious of her destination. Tears blurred her eyesight, but she ignored them and kept going until she collapsed on the side of a street, panting and sobbing at the same time. She stayed there for a while, trying to get her act together. She brushed away the last few tears from her eyes and took deep, calming breaths. Slowly, she pushed herself back up and looked over at the mountains where the Hokage's faces were carved.

"Shishou…"

She began running again, this time at full speed. Her feet were killing her and she felt like a plastic bag was wrapped around her head. She struggled for breath as she made it to the top. Her gaze scrutinized the area, noticing how a fight had taken place here. Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes fell on the disfigured body not too far away from her. She approached slowly and then her world stopped as she stared at the open empty familiar blue eye. There were too many slashes to her face, making the flesh visible.

"Ino!"

Scream! Scream! Her mouth was open. But no sound would come out. She was going to vomit. Gagging, gulping down the flood of bitter fluid filling the floor of her mouth. Trying to swallow. Then it happened too fast. She was not even aware that they were moving up behind her. Just a sensation. A creeping chill at the base of her spine. And she turned around to see him. He grinned back at her flashing his sharp teeth, swinging his ridiculous gigantic sword as though it weighted nothing.

She immediately recognised him as Itachi's partner. She had read everything about him.

"You killed her," the accusation was answered with an amused laughter.

Ino was dead. She wanted to run at him and unleash all her hatred but she knew that she needed to keep herself in check. Kakashi's voice rang in her mind, "You are far too emotional Sakura."

Eyes narrowing, she waited. He looked quite tired but not as tired as she was. She glared at the damn sword. His sword was every medic-nin nightmare. She heard someone scream not too far away from them but she had no time to make sense of it as she was suddenly forced to duck Kisame's sword. Panic stricken she jumped backwards, trying to gain distance from him. She watched as the man disappeared, his speed was something she had never witnessed before. Gasping, Sakura forced herself to the left but his sword grazed her side. She cursed under her breath as an excruciating pain travelled through her entire body. Her eyes darted away to the blue-skinned man who smirked back at her.

"I thought I'd give you a souvenir." He snickered.

Sakura's hand was covered in blood as she massaged the wounded area. She frowned at the deepness of the cut. If she wasn't treated soon she would get one nasty infection. She tried to ignore her wound and glared at her opponent. This time when he came to her, she was ready. She jumped in mid-air, her feet landing on the edge of his sword. Pushing chakra to her feet, she ran through the swords blade, watching in satisfaction as the Akatsuki member's brows shot up in sheer surprise. She kicked him backwards and reappeared on his left side, her hand glowing blue. This was it.

But then there was a loud explosion, it seemed like it was coming from every direction. The force of the impact shoved both her and her enemy forward. She screamed in pain when her back hit the trunk of a tree. She closed her eyes tightly when she looked down at her shoulder; something had pierced a hole through it. With a shaky hand, she attempted to break the tree branch. She stopped dead on her tracks as she stared at the enormous red colour that was quickly consuming the entire landscape. Naruto! No. The Kyuubi's chakra!

The pink-haired Kunoichi felt as if someone was squeezing her own heart. There was no way that Sasuke could have survived. She watched powerlessly as the red chakra was advancing rapidly towards her direction. She closed her eyes as it hit her hard and painfully. Her eyes shot wide open as she felt the tree behind her shatter, pieces of wood stuck to her back. She screamed as she suddenly could no longer feel the ground beneath her. Her big emerald eyes started at the dark starred sky. Her hair was quickly all over her face, complicating her vision. She knew, she knew that she was falling down. What she wondered as she stretched her arms in vain was why was it taking so long for the impact to come.

And then as if on cue, the pain came. It hit her body at once. It was as if thousands of sharp knives crossed her body over and over again. She opened her mouth to breath but no air ever came. Her eyes opened and she realized she was under water. Almost unconsciously, she forced herself to reach the surface.

Right next to her was a large piece of wood. Panting, she held on to it, her finger nails dug on the weakened wood as she positioned herself into a safe position. As her eyelids closed against her will, a weak voice whispered into her ear, "You must live."

Sakura quietly shifted and slowly opened her eyes. She looked around with apprehension. Where am I? She tucked her ruffled pink hair behind her ears only to realize that her hair was soaking wet... And so were her clothes... She blinked, and then a large wave hit her from behind, and she lost her balance struggling not to be swept back to the sea. She threw herself forward on the sand, and crawled away from the waves, until they were not able to reach her anymore. Short of breath, she looked around once again. There was the sea, and the shore, and behind her there were lights and the noise of people's voices swirling in the air, screaming, laughing, talking, singing; crying, maybe.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Her eyes stung, but she was not sure whether it was only the sea water... Suddenly it all came back to her... That hollow feeling... That wave of cold creeping over her, enveloping her, tugging on her body and soul... Her soul... If there was anything left from her soul after that.

...If there was anything left from her, after she had slowly made her way across the village... The village was silent and empty... Empty. It had felt as if Konoha was dead. The day was bright, but it was the day good enough for a funeral. There was no wind. It was humid. And cold... So cold, she could not even feel her toes.

The pink-haired kunoichi tried to sit but an excruciating pain on her left side reminded her of the nasty cut she had received when she fought with the fish-like man. Biting her lip to suppress a scream she lied down back on the sand. Her heart beat was beating so fast that she could even feel its pulsations on her throat. The memories, they came slowly one by one, filling her eyes with an empty void.

Sakura let out a loud cry and buried her head on the sand not bothered one bit the fact that her mouth was becoming so dry.

"By Kami!" a concerned loud voice spoke. Sakura ignored it as she kept crying her heart out, "Miss? Miss are you alright?"

Slowly, she raised her head to stare at a tall chubby woman. The tall woman was wearing a purple kimono and stared down at the pink-haired girl in absolute shock.

"You're from leaf too," she said as she crouched down next to Sakura, "You've got left behind?"

Sakura recoiled at the warm touch of the woman's delicate hands. Her head was racing at the woman's words. They made no sense.

"I'm sure if we send them a message… yes there is still time… oh my! You have quite a fever," the woman tone of voice seemed honestly concerned.

"N-Naruto…" Sakura whispered before her green eyes rolled back and once again fell unconscious.

Sakura Haruno woke up screaming, her heart pounding out a rhythm of terror. Fear was a living, breathing entity in the darkness of the strange room. The weight of it crushed her, held her helpless; she was unable to move. She could taste it in her mouth, and feel it coursing through her bloodstream. Around her, the air seemed so thick that her lungs burned for oxygen.

For a moment she lay frozen, her ears straining to hear the murmur of voices and sounds of steps approaching the room.

"Sir, please!" A female voice whispered. Sakura could hear the door knob move. Her heart skipped a beat as the door opened allowing a blinding white light to invade the room. She sat up, propping herself up by her elbows and peered directly into the light, her eyes adjusting without a flinch. A man emerged through the light dressed in what she recognised to be the ANBU uniform. He stopped at her feet and looked down at her pale face.

"Where did you get this?" said the man – his voice was deep, experienced and slow. Sakura blinked slowly at first, then she looked at him closely and then at the thing he carried in his hands – her headband.

"I…" she stuttered, "T-that's mine" she spoke quietly and frowned. Did he not recognise her? Where was Shishou? Naruto? Was he… was he alright?

The man looked quite impatient as if he had no time to play games, "Do not lie. You had it with you when we found you." He accused.

Sakura shook her head as confusion and fear spread through her face, "Of course I had it with me," she answered, feeling completely dumbfounded, "It's my headband that's why."

"I see. You decide not to collaborate then."

"Are you deaf?!" She shouted at him, losing her posture, "THAT HEADBAND BELONGS TO ME!" She stopped to take a deep breath, "Where is Tsunade-shishou? I demand to see her."

"Tsunade?" he questioned, immediately confused, "What are you on about? And who the hell are you to demand such thing?"

"Enough Hitoshi."

"B-but Yondaime sir!" Hitoshi started but the blond-haired man cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"I said enough. You can go now."

Sakura's jaw dropped as she stared at the tall man, "Yondaime?" she repeated as she leaned back in her pillow. She was feeling suddenly quite lightheaded.