Thank you for your patience, awesome readers! You motivate and inspire me when I started to lose my heart on writing.

Okay, this chapter tends to be a total remade than a rewritten one. Here it goes.

Reincarnation

Chapter Two: The Entrance

Konohagakure, Shinobi World

A sunset was seen as the background of scarlet sky in Konoha. Through the window of the Hokage room at the central tower in that shinobi village, it could be seen a young pink haired girl and a tall white haired man was standing in front of the sitting blonde woman. Apparently, the two ninja were reporting to fifth Hokage about their last mission.

Few minutes later, the Gondaime nodded her head signaling the mission report was done successfully. A small smile escaped her lips. Tsunade always knew that her best apprentice and the masked jonin are capable shinobi who wouldn't disappoint her. Besides, it was just a simple B ranked mission.

As they were done with the report, Tsunade asked Kakashi to go to the forest outside the beloved shinobi village for back up. "Many ANBU members are there already," said her. The fifth hokage explained about the unusual phenomenon appear while the two shinobi were away in the mission.

After hearing enough explanation, the white haired man excused himself and went off in a puff of smoke, leaving the two females to have further conversation. It was the time for the young kunoichi to learn more about a strange dark mist which appeared about days ago. The blonde woman told her that the mist held a mysterious yet powerful unusual chakra on it.

The emerald eyed girl dared herself to ask her mentor if she could go to investigate the mysterious mist as well, yet her wish was not granted. The Gondaime said that it was pretty dangerous. Some shinobi went missing without any news after entering the mist.

Sakura is her best apprentice ever that Tsunade would consider more and more before letting her on dangerous occasion. Not that she didn't believe in her student's competence, but she didn't wish her to go missing like other shinobi. Besides, the young kunoichi seemed a bit exhausted after the mission to snow village which had had a coup d'état. Well, healing many poisonous victims and creating the antidotes in a short time –due to the emergency condition of the victims– certainly are enough to cause fatigue on the medic nin. The blonde woman just wanted her apprentice to rest first before she could give her any more missions.

The conversation between the talented medic ninjas was closed. The spring girl didn't know why but she had a feeling that she should go to the dark mist. This feeling was so strangely strong. It was like the dark mist was calling her in fate. It was really weird, she hadn't seen the mysterious mist with her own eyes yet she had felt she must come to it. Thus, she was so disappointed when her shisou didn't let her to come nearer the mist.

Apparently, stubborn has been on her gen. After excusing herself from the fifth hokage, Sakura went to Hokage hill. She jumped to the highest place there where she was able to see the entire forest laid outside the village. Just like her thought, she could see a big mist on the forest about few kilometers far from her current spot. Yes, the mist was so strange and mysterious. It did have a large amount of unusual chakra, Sakura could feel.

For a moment, the emerald eyed girl seemed to be hypnotized. Her eyes looked a bit dull, no shine on them, as Sakura kept staring at the dark mist. Her legs walked forward without any command from her brain. The young kunoichi suddenly gained her consciousness back when she almost fell from the high hill. Thanks to her shinobi spontaneous reflex that she landed safely on the ground like a cat gracefully does. She tried to calm herself down as she breathed heavily. A sweat run down her cheek. 'What… was that?' she thought, 'A genjutsu?'

The only kunoichi on Team Seven shook her head softly. Tsunade was right, the mist was so dangerous. If Sakura wants to face the mist, she must be in her best performance. As she was a bit tired after the mission at the moment, she decided to retreat first and take a rest in order to collect her chakra back.

~xXx~

The next day, the only daughter of Haruno family woke up in an energetic mood. A genuine smile spread on her lips as she remembered her dream last night. It was another dream of her beloved Shiro-kun. The dream felt more like a forgotten memory that leak on her mind.

The dream took place on a traditional Japanese house. Whenever Sakura dreams about her lovely Shiro-kun, it always takes place on that traditional house or a school pace that brings the same feeling as Shinobi Academy (for having many classrooms and large training ground).

On her dream, Sakura always looks much younger than she is. Still, she has her long hair along with her cute red ribbon. In her last night dream, she wore a simple red-white kimono that had flower pattern on it while her Shiro-kun wore a traditional green yukata. Both of them were sitting watching sunset. The long pink haired girl believed that watching sunset must be her hobby. It wasn't the first time she dreamt of it. It felt like it was her routine with Shiro-kun.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" the younger look Sakura commented about the sunset in awe causing her companion to nod in response. She saw her Shiro-kun gaze at the sunset too. From his eyes, she could tell that he was deep in thought, so she asked him what the matter was.

"The sunset makes the sky scarlet," answered the white haired boy. The emerald eyed girl held an innocent face for a while. Most girls would send him a questioning look as a response for his sentence since it is normal for the sky becoming scarlet when the sun is setting. But Sakura didn't do what the most girls do. She knew her companion must have some hidden meaning on his statement. She looked back at the scarlet sky. As she started thinking, her face changed into a bit more serious.

"You don't think of blood, do you?" asked her and she received a look that said 'Sharp instinct' or 'Are you sure you don't have a mind-reading talent?' from Shiro-kun. Sakura just allowed a soft smile slid on her face that could say 'I think the way you think' as a reply before seriousness dominated her face again, demanding an answer or rather an explanation why he thought of such a thing. Sunset is a pleasant (can be romantic) scene. So why, why did he think about bloody thing a sudden?

"Gomen." She heard him apologize. "It's okay, you can talk to me," said her in an assuring and comforting tone. She knew that her companion could be in gloomy mood just like when he finally told her about his dream which made him believe that he would die in a strange ice land. At that time, she comforted him by telling him that if he would die there then she would always accompany him even to death.

Back to the sunset, Shiro-kun held his right hand forward as if he wanted to reach the sun. His turquoise eyes were sharp as always. "Can you imagine seeing blood in a very large amount like that scarlet sky?" he asked.

"No, and I don't want to," said her as she moved her hand to touch his, letting their finger to intertwine. She brought their hands to the middle of their selves and they had eye-contact at the moment. "Me neither," a sigh escaped his lips, "especially if the blood belong to you."

She immediately hushed him, "That unwise imagination of yours would never happen. You know why?" she saw him shake his head. "It's because I believe you will do everything heart and soul to prevent my blood –even just one drop of it– to fall. Now, am I wrong?"

A relief and genuine smile could be seen from his handsome face. "Let's make a promise," he said, "We shall always be together…" Sakura's eyes softened as she added, "Forever…" They kept staring each another in affection for a while before they released their intertwined fingers and closed distance between their sitting position. The young girl then rested her head on his shoulder. The white haired boy wrapped his hand around her back as he also rested his head on the top of hers. Together they watched the sky and enjoyed the twilight sensation.

Sakura could feel the heat on her cheeks as she recalled her dream. She missed Shiro-kun so much and she was quite pleased encountering him on her dream. Still, she did wish to meet him not just in dream. And this morning, she had a feeling that she might encounter her Shiro-kun for real.

~xXx~

After taking shower and having a quick meal, the daughter of Haruno family rushed herself to the forest outside the village where the mysterious dark mist was waiting for her. She was welcomed by her shinobi teacher who at the moment had his sharingan eye visible. There, Sakura could see some ANBU members were performing some unidentified jutsu as they were standing in a pattern of jutsu circle.

The fifteen year old kunoichi was asking her sensei about the current situation of the mist when her medic mentor came. What a good timing, Kakashi then didn't have to explain twice. From what the copy-nin said, Sakura learnt that the mist kept leaking a strange spiritual pressure as if it was a gate that lead into another dimension. Kakashi was sure there was someone –or something– dangerous deep inside it, yet his saringan eye didn't detect any living sign from the mist.

There was also an interesting fact: the mist was so sensitive on selecting people to enter it. Not random people could go through the mist. Last night, some ANBU members were patrolling and they caught Konohamaru sneak to the mist area. Of course the grandson of the third hokage received much lecture about how dangerous his doing was but he defended himself by saying that the mist rejected his presence. He said there was such a strange barrier that didn't allow him to come near it.

"What a selective mist. It didn't let a genin level child but mostly high rank shinobi and ANBU members only to enter it," commented Tsunade, "What does it seek? Talented old people?"

Old? Did the fifth hokage just say old people? Sakura dared herself to ask whether there were youngsters who entered the mist and she got a reply that the youngest shinobi who could enter it were on their mid twenties. No people under twenty had gone into the mist yet. Although it didn't matter how old people who entered the mist, no one from them had been able to come back. No news or report was received back either.

The young kunoichi then decided to tell about what she experienced the day before. She told them about the mist that seemed to call her. As a result, she received surprise looks from both of her teachers. Kakashi advised her that she should have told them earlier. A hint of worry could be heard on his tone.

Sakura apologized then. Later, she noticed that shock still haunt her female mentor. Kakashi realized it too so he asked the Gondaime. Few second calming herself down, Tsunade told them that it occurred to her as well. The mist looked as if it had a strange way like illusion to call her to enter it. The same thing also happened to those shinobi who went missing after entering the mysterious mist. "Okay, so age is not the main factor," Kakashi concluded as Sakura who was fifteen years old also happened to be called by the mist. Tsunade nodded as the agreement.

Sakura determined herself and asked if she could go into the mist for further investigation only to hear her mentor say that no way she would throw her best apprentice to the wolves. Yet the young kunoichi insisted that there wouldn't any development if they didn't do anything. After a while quarreling like mother and daughter, Tsunade –with a very heavy sigh– finally allowed Sakura to enter the dark mist.

It was noon when Sakura was ready for (probably an S-rank) mission to explore the mist. The pink haired kunoichi, who was already in Chuunin level, brought her radio device and any other things needed like her shinobi weapons, some scroll, and medic stuff. She was determined. The Gondaime then announced that Sakura may leave. Nodded, the kunoichi was about to turn her back to face the mist when she saw an anxious look on those eyes of her mentor.

Tsunade had tried her best to hide her worry. She was the Hokage for Kami-sama. She should look strong and not supposed to show fragile emotion but she couldn't take it. Deep inside her heart, there was a mother intuition that didn't allow her to let Sakura go. Her instinct seemed to tell her that it might be their last encounter. Thus, she called Sakura's name and decided to give her the final farewell.

Hearing her name being called, Sakura approached her teacher. What she didn't expect was that Senju Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin, the best medic ninja, and a taijutsu master, hugged her best apprentice tight in front of everyone. Surprised, the younger kunoichi returned the hug nonetheless. "Take care," she hear the older woman say. The hug was soft and warm, the symbol of their affection toward each another.

Tsunade could feel her apprentice nodded. Well, the ability of Kakashi's saringan to read mouth was an exception, but in a very low voice that only both of them could hear, Sakura said, "Love you, Mom…" Oh yeah, ever since her parents died on Orochimaru's invasion years ago, Sakura was left orphan and she found a mother figure from the blonde woman. She was lucky enough to have her on her side.

Too bad that Naruto was still away with Jiraya on training in order to bring Sasuke back. Team Kurenai, Team Asuma, and Team Guy who at the moment was still on mission outside the village didn't help either. Sakura wished she could bid farewell to them as well. Strangely, she felt that she might not come back to her beloved shinobi village anymore but there was also a feeling that she would meet her best friends again.

After releasing the hug, Sakura glanced at her other teacher. Silently, she said, "Bye, Kaka-kun." She could feel the copy-nin smiled behind the mask he wore as he nodded. And without any spoken words needed, she also knew that Kakashi wished her good luck for the mission. So she faced the mist with determination. The mysterious mist became darker as Sakura jumped through it.

~xXx~

To Be Continued

~xXx~

I wouldn't ask for reviews as I don't think this very-slow-update-story deserves them but if you give me some then I would be grateful.

And thank you for reading.

Sincerely,

MnC21