Title: Turning Point

Summary: Her death changed him. A story about Sasuke, his present and futures, and the girl destined to die. Sasusaku

Pairings: SasukexSakura

Genre: Romance/Tragedy

Disclaimer: I own neither the characters and situations from Naruto nor the plot of Noein, but I do own everything else in this story.


Chapter 1: A Familiar Stranger

People were running everywhere, all were intent of escaping the rampaging summons bent on destruction. Among them was a little girl. The people were confused, the animals just came out of nowhere, and they weren't sure which way to go. Debris began falling, and because of the crowd, the little girl tripped.

"Run!" The others kept on going, but one old woman turned.

"Tami!" she cried.

The little girl wailed.

A giant centipede lunged at her.

"Bastard!"

The shinobi in the area stopped for minute to watch the pink haired girl punching the giant summon headfirst.

"The centipede's dead! I guess that girl killed it." One said.

His companions nodded before continuing their work, but silently wondering at the Godaime's apprentice's power.

Meanwhile, the pink haired girl looked up. "Are you okay?"

"Thank you." The old woman replied as her granddaughter rushed to her.

"Yea-h." The little girl agreed, but she suddenly winced in pain.

Their savior knelt down beside the girl and inspected the wound. Carefully, she placed her hand and the wound disappeared.

"Oh, good! Your wound wasn't that deep."

"Thanks." The little girl smiled at her again.

"Sakura!"

She turned at the sound of her name and saw several shinobi running to her direction, one of them was very familiar to her.

"Iruka!"

"Are you okay?" He was panting.

Sakura nodded. "What the hell's going on?"

"It's Akatsuki." Her former teacher replied. "They're attacking Konoha to try and find Naruto."

"Akatsuki?!" She looked alarmed.

"I've already told Tsunade. There'll be probably an announcement soon."

"I never thought that they'd attack us directly."

Another explosion interrupted their conversation. And Iruka's companions called him.

"You get to the Hospital to tend the wounded." He told her before setting off. "The place is already filling up."

"Okay." Sakura nodded.

After making sure that the old woman and her granddaughter was okay, she immediately ran to the hospital. She was still in shock upon knowing that their village was under attck, especially that the attack was directed at her best friend, who was not there. As she sped past through the rubble and destruction, she felt her eyes starting to moisture.

Clenching her fist, she quickened her stride. Part of her was aching to join the fight, to join her friends and fellow shinobi protect her home. But she also knew that she would have to face another battle, one different but as important as combat.

She opened the door and heard the anguished cries and moans, as well as the stench of the wounded. Tying her hair, she rushed to the nearest person. Focusing her chakra, she proceeded to saving lives.


A young girl in her mid teens sped up the stairs so fast she seemed to be flying through. She halted as she reached the top step, her beautiful long black hair flowed down her back gently like a silk fabric. Slowly, she opened the door.

"Jii-chan."

Only one person was there. The man was leaning against a post, cloak almost disguising him perfectly against the shadows. His only movement was the rhythmic clenching and unclenching of his left hand.

Placing a lock behind her ear, the girl's bright sapphire eyes followed his gaze.

It was still day time, but the skies were already dark with traces of orange, pink and green swirls. Both the sun and the moon could be seen, though they are engulfed by evil grey clouds. Now and then, you could see stars twinkle, then disappear as if they never existed.

She knelt down and nudged the man's shoulder, but he ignored her.

Frowning, then smiling mischievously, she tried touching the object in his left hand.

"Don't you dare!" He growled, protectively pressing the small object nearer to his chest.

"Finally." The girl smiled. "For a minute, I thought you died with your eyes open."

"You're as annoying as your father!"

Her smile grew wider. "Oy, Jii-chan, How can you fight something that wasn't supposed to be possible in the first place?"

The man resumed looking at the distance and ignored her again.

Sighing exasperatedly, she stood up, this time her voice had a more serious tone.

"You have an S-rank mission. I am to assist you in finding the location of three dangerous missing nins."

"I'm not one of your god-damned shinobi!" The man muttered.

"Oooh. Wait til I tell Papa who's the scaredy cat this time!" Her sapphire eyes twinkled.

"Damn you, Mika!" Standing up, he glared at her with eyes most would wish never to see, but the young girl just looked at him triumphantly.

"Follow me." She held out a hand.


If possible, the cries only grew louder. She wiped off the perspiration at her forehead as she gazed sadly at her patient. He was no longer moving. She didn't cry anymore, he wasn't the first one she couldn't save. Carefully, Sakura closed his eyes as she proceeded to the next person. There were wounds and a broken rib. Carefully cleaning them,and patching the rib, she gave him some painkillers. Many were far more injured, and she cannot waste any more time or chakra.

Panting, she struggled as her next victim trashed about. She could feel the erratic beating of his heart, and expertly concluded it was poison. Slowly, she pulled out the poison while restraining him. It was difficult and tiring, but the other nurses were too busy saving others. After a time, the man calmed down. Sakura had him drinking an antidote, thankful that the poison was a common one. Her chest heaved as she saw that there were far more people to attend to.

Her sight was turning blurry as she treated a woman with numerous deep wounds, apparently they were animal bites. As her hand struggled to stop the bleeding, she observed her chakra faltering. She willed herself to continue, many more needed her help.

There was a flash of light and the woman was electrocuted before her.

As she screamed, a huge explosion rocked the whole building, and partitions of the ceiling started crumbling down. One of Katsuyu's miniature clones pulled her out of the collapsing building.

"How? Why? Wh-what happened?"

In shock, she looked around, not recognizing the scene before her eyes. Other clones were able to pullout other people, but many of the wounded had just been buried alive.

The tears she had forced down now streamed steadily in her cheeks. Then she remembered her blond best friend, the boy who told her that he will protect the people of Konoha. Naruto, who swore that he will become Hokage.

"Naruto!" She cried in desperation. "Please hurry back, Naruto!"

Wiping her tears, she struggled to stand up. The giant snail beside her attempted to help, but it suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Katsuyu?!" She collapsed again upon turning, and saw three figures before her.

They wore long white hooded robes embroidered with strange golden designs. Their faces were hidden but Sakura shuddered as one of them opened his mouth to speak.

"Chakra exchaustion." The one on the left said while his companions nodded in reply.

Tensing slightly, begged her body to move, to run away from these men. She could feel their malicious chakra, and though she doesn't understand what their intentions were, her chakra was below dangerous level. She could not fight to defend herself for long. Doing so would make sure she would be knocked out, or even worse, dead...

The men walked forward, but another flash of light distracted them. Sakura turned and gasped in surprise.

Another figure appeared, this one dressed entirely in black. Strange symbols rushed around him in a furious spiral, then disappeared.

"You!" The one at the right yelled, and sped to him intending to pierce him with a sharp lance.

The newcomer glanced at his direction before sidestepping and plunged a katana into his back.

"We will not allow you, whatever version you are to interfere!"

The other two ran to him from opposite directions, but their target pulled back his katana and jumped upwards. As the two men tried to stop themselves from hitting each other, a cackle of lightning had them frozen on their tracks. The man landed, and slashed through them both, their blood staining their cloaks, emphasizing the golden design.

"She is supposed to die. She will die." One whispered, blood on his lips.

"We will not allow the other you to succeed." Added the other.

There was a gust of wind, and the three faded, as if made of light.

Meanwhile, Sakura remained at the sidelines, transfixed. She felt a little of her strength returning, but she found that she could not look away from the stranger in black. She knew that she should fear him, she just saw him kill three people quickly before her eyes, but at the same time, she felt that there was something familiar about him.

The man was several years older, probably Kakashi's age. His hair was long and spiky, almost reaching his waist. He was entirely covered, but the little skin he showed revealed pale pale skin.

He turned, and Sakura saw his face. There was a deep scar in his chin, and it shone silver in the sunlight. There were bags under his eyes, and exhaustion darkened has darkened the ring around them as it has Gaara's.

For a minute, his dark eyes met her emerald ones.

Then, he walked closer.

Sakura did not know what to do, as she knelt rooted to the ground. Her heartbeat was erratic. Though she felt that this man was dangerous, her inner self contradicted her, telling her that this was a man who would never hurt her. In the end, she decided to stay put, telling herself she was too tired.

Looking up, she saw that the man was directly in front of her.

"How?" He gasped, then his fist clenched. "Mika!"

Sakura's heart lurched. That expression of annoyance was very familiar.

She flinched when he knelt in front of her and his hands gently caressed her face.

Then he leaned and kissed her.

Sakura's eyes grew wide, and her hand clenched and gathered chakra.

"Pervert!" She punched him with all her strength and he would have flown meters away if several walls he crashed through didn't slow him down.

Sakura stood up, shaking and glared at the male, then she gasped.

He was still looking at her, his dark eyes blank. But from the distance, she could recognize him.

"Sasuke-kun?" She shook her head in disbelief.

Then her vision turned black.


Finally! This chapter was so difficult. I can't decide what version of Sakura to begin with. Then, I remembered Chapter 421. I loved that scene Kishimoto-san hasn't shown Sakura in her kick-ass glory for a long time, and I believed it best to portray her as a strong woman.

On to my reviewers:

I want to thank SnowxCruellyxHeartbroken. I'm glad you like the scenes I've chosen, it was really difficult and I was really glad the way it came up. Anyway, I'll be updating weekly, with all my power.

I also want to thank cool44. I'm glad you like that story.

To everyone who read and loved the story, thank you. But please leave a review, reviews inspire me.

So how does everyone like it so far?

Do you like my OC? She's an invention dear to my heart. Can you guess who her 'Papa' is?

Until next week,

Chantrea Moonbeam