I wasn't sure what to do with this, but after some careful consideration, I finally decided to restart this story and finish it.
XxXx
She was swimming in darkness. A type of darkness that seemed to scare her as well as excite her, as odd as that sounded. She was almost relieved to be in the darkness, because in the darkness there was nothing. No worries, no fighting, no blood, no death.
But the nothingness also scared her. She wanted something, but her brain told her that was impossible, she would never see that something again; never hold it in her hands; never cherish it; never love it. The darkness was a cruel but welcoming place.
It was strange, she found that with the nothingness, something could be created. It something had already been created, then that something could not be made into something else, for it was already something. A bird could not be made into a tiger because it was already a bird. But a nothing, was just that, a nothing. Nothing could be made into something, because it wasn't already something.
She reached out into the darkness, gripping at the nothingness like a life line. A human could not make a nothing into something, and a something into something else. That was left to the Gods to do. But with an fist, she made something into something else. She knew the Gods weren't going to be pleased that she had bypassed the laws of the universe and made her own, but she wanted something that wasn't there.
So she took one thing and crafted it into something else.
That something was Time. She reached into the pool of Time, and disrupted the flow of time. Adjusting the flow had been tricky. She had to delicately sort through all the threads of time, and weave a specific thread out of the flow of Time, without unraveling the whole thing. Then even more delicately, she took her own artificial thread and weaved it through time.
Fate was not pleased, for before time had began, it had worked long and hard to create the fabric, and here was a mere human messing up the greatest thing Fate had created.
And so when the human smiled, turned away, and picked up thread she had unweaved from the fabric; Fate had unraveled all of time up until that thread, and then carefully picked up new thread and weaved a new fabric.
Because everything that is fated to happen for a reason; and when that fated thing does not happen, the rest of the universe is in peril. It is a cause and effect. It is the ultimate law of the universe. And now, without that thread the human has stole, the human would reap what she had sown.
XxXx
Sakura blinked the rain away from her eyes blearily as Itachi lowered her to the ground carefully. When he was satisfied she wouldn't collapse at his feet he let his hands fall from her collar. It was nice to see he had faith she could stand even though she didn't.
Her lungs felt like fire and her legs were shaking even as she leaned heavily on the one that wasn't injured. She attempted to control the shaking in her body but after a few seconds, she gave up the attempt and instead focused her attention on the Konoha Hunter Nins who all tensed waiting for the battle she knew was coming.
She needed to light that flare. The elder Uchiha seemed to have the same idea as he twisted his body grabbing her by the shoulders and throwing her far from the battle scene.
She landed with a painful thud even as the curses fell from her lips promising death and torture to the Akatsuki member. She raised her arms high and pulled the string at the bottom of the flare. There was a loud 'pop' and a sizzle as the flare went high into the sky.
Satisfied that Ame could see it, she dropped the flare turning her head as she felt the air around her shift. She acted on instinct, ducking under the arch of the poisoned blade as it passed over the air where her neck had been moments before. She rolled across the ground, shoving the scroll into her weapons pouch, replacing it with a kunai in her hand.
Her left knee hit the ground even as she pushed off with her right foot. The ANBU rushed at her ruthlessly, his blade disappearing with the force of the swing. She huffed, ducking underneath of his outstretched arms and around his legs so she twisted behind him. Her arm swung, intending to shove the kunai into his shoulder blades.
He realized what she was doing and ran forward. He jumped, his feet colliding with the trunk of the tree in front of him. Twisting his hips he turned so he was facing her and pushed off the trunk raising the blade high. Ignoring the painful throb as she added another kunai to her spare hand, she brought them both in front of her in an X, his blade being caught in the middle.
His feet barely hit the ground before he shoved into her again, forcing her backwards, her feet digging into the muddy ground. She was aware her arms were screaming in protest as she twisted, her foot coming up and colliding with the ANBU's side. He was pushed away, his feet sliding across ground.
When the two got back their momentum, he had descended on her again like a starving animal when it finally caught a prey it wasn't going to let escape. The two seemed to dance, him fast and precise, her sluggish and worn down. She cried out frustrated as he knocked her backwards into a tree. White lights burst across her vision and she stumbled, her injured calf crying out in agony. He found his opening and took it.
Sakura felt pain explode across her shoulder. She cried out, swinging her uninjured arms wildly forcing the ANBU backwards away from her non-calculated strikes. She felt a tug on her shoulder as the poisoned blade was retched from her body.
She stumbled forward, already the poison spreading across her body. Blood splashed the ground, but it was washed away by the rain even before it had marred the earth. She looked up, blearily aware of the ANBU taking off his mask.
"I'm sorry to have to do this Sakura," he said almost endearing and regretful. She squinted her eyes up at the face, registering dark eyes and hair. He raised the blade high above his body and brought it down. There was a clash of metal and Sakura's vision was covered by black with red clouds.
She tilted her head upwards. She saw a flash of silver before her world tilted, her body collapsing against the muddy ground. Her vision swam and she was vaguely aware the sounds of battle being forced away from her.
She was lifted from the ground, a voice above her shouting orders she couldn't distinguish. A hand started slapping her face attempting to get her to focus. Her body sagged as her eyes closed, too heavy to keep them open. She saw a flash of blue.
Why, hello there Kisame...
Her body sagged and she was thrust forward into a darkness.
XxXx
She had been staring at a ceiling even before she became aware of this fact. Her eyes blinked, slowly her mind coming to the realization that she was awake. Slowly she became aware of itchy cloth laid across her body. A slow steady beep sounded off to her left. Funny... her alarm clock was louder than that.
A door opened to her side and the sound of curtains being drawn back. Sakura turned her eyes to the sound finding a amber eyed, blue haired girl.
"Haruno-san," she asked. Her vision swam.
"Haru- Sakura? Can you hear me," the girl asked again, "Sakura? Squeeze my fingers if you can hear me."
Squeeze...?
Feeling fatigue press against her eyelids she fought for a moment. The voice was becoming distant to her left. She dropped back into the darkness.
All I have to do is squeeze her fingers, right?
Why can't I feel my body?
XxXx
She was covered in blood her hands pushed deep into the man's chest. His wet coughs impressed her. Somehow she expected him to be dead long before now. His eyes searched her face, as she turned, cracking a small reassuring smile that was marred by the lines of exhaustion under her eyes.
She looked back at his chest, heaving a sigh of relief as her minty green chakra managed to close one of the final arteries that were spilling blood across the ground. She shifted her hands, working to inflate the collapsed lung, forcing the blood out of his organ. He groaned, coughing up the blood, eyes rolling into the back of his head for a single moment.
She pushed chakra into his body causing him to twitch, his eyes returning to normal. She snarled, "Don't you fucking die on me, Lee. Don't you fucking dare."
He looked back at her, his eyes hazy as if he couldn't quiet understand what was going on and who she was.
Sakura gritted her teeth, focusing on fixing the mangled organs. Her eyes slid upwards a fraction of a second. And she saw he had not wavered. He stood, staring down at her watching her work, brown eyes unwavering beneath a mop of messy red hair.
"Stop watching me," she hissed.
He didn't spoke, but she could tell he had ignored her request and was still staring at her.
They were all staring at her watching as slowly she knitted Lee's skin together. His breathing was labored and she looked back at him, "Lee, you're not out of the danger zone."
"I-If I can not survive this, I will walk around on my hands for five thousand miles," he said. She wisely resisted the urge to point out that if he didn't survive this he would be dead and thus incapable of walking around like he challenged.
"I'll hold you to that, Lee," she whispered, letting her eyes stray to the two other Leaf Nin sprawled out unconscious on the ground. Hinata and Shikamaru were not as injured as Lee had been, but still she worried about the large gash on the Nara's head that still had not stopped bleeding even after an hour and a half.
Hinata had already been cared for, her face pale from blood loss. She had taken the most damage from the attack and so Sakura had attended to her first. Then Lee. And then she would check Shikamaru.
And then...
"Stop watching me," Sakura snarled, feeling the eyes on her face, on her hands, on her neck, on her body.
She was ignored. Why wasn't she surprised?
Lee blinked tiredly at her as she finished him up. She reached into her pack, grabbing healing salve and applying it generously all over the new skin. He whimpered, but otherwise gave no indication that he was in pain. Sakura couldn't help but admire his strength.
Once he was wrapped up she moved over towards Shikamaru. A quick scan indicated that he was fine just unconscious. He should wake up soon, with a headache, but otherwise okay. She stitched up the gash quickly and wrapped his head. She stood, before hesitating and leaving a bottle of medication and pain pills near the Konoha nin's head.
She steadied herself, before defiantly lifting her head to stare at the man she had killed years ago: Akasuna no Sasori. He hummed low in the back of his throat as she turned her head, aware the other members of Akatsuki were getting ready.
"We withheld our end of the bargain, will you withhold yours," Itachi Uchiha asked stretching out his hand towards her.
"Sa-Sakura-chan, I must protest," Lee cried out weakly, struggling to sit up. The rosette turned to him, "Don't move, you'll further injure yourself."
She turned back to the Akatsuki members. She pushed chakra into her fists as a reaction and she could see the members flanking around her tense waiting for a fight. Grinding her teeth together in anger she relaxed all her muscles and turned to Lee, "Tell Tsunade-shishou I said good-bye."
And she turned and took Itachi's hand into her own ignoring Lee as he screamed out her name.
"SAKURA-CHAN!"
XxXx
Green eyes snapped opened with a gasp bursting through chapped lips. The feeling of dreaming began to pool away from her subconscious, allowing her conscious to take a hold. She was still for several more seconds before she let out a breath that she hadn't known she had been holding.
A dream. It had been a dream...
Her eyes fluttered closed, as she pulled her hand to her face. She winced in the movement, pain racing across her arm and into her neck. Her eyes opened and shifted so she could trail the line of white bandages up her arm. Sighing she let her hand fall back onto the bed and turned her head to observe the room she was in.
She could tell she was in a hospital, the IV in her arm a dead giveaway before she had taken in the rest of her surroundings. It was plain, lacking in the usual decorum that Konoha's hospital normally had. The walls were a pale yellow, almost white. A counter ran the length of the room parallel to the bed. A sink and various other medical supplies were placed neatly on the counter. Two cupboards were above the counter, nearest to her head and she knew if she opened them up, she would find medical supplies in there too.
She turned her head, the rest of the room blocked by a eggshell white curtain. Knowing if she tilted her head upwards she was see machines hanging from the walls that were constantly measuring and calculating her body's stats. Taking in to account the heart monitor attached to her chest, a blood pressure gauge wrapped around her arm and hooked up to a machine that took her blood pressure ever half an hour mechanically; she knew she was in the ICU ward of whatever hospital she was in.
Sakura reached her arm behind her and pulled the button that would call in a doctor or a nurse. She sat up slightly wincing in the pain. She had just managed to make herself comfortable when the curtains slid back to reveal the same blue haired amber eyed girl from earlier.
"Haruno-san," she greeted.
"K-Konan," Sakura greeted, wincing as her voice rubbed her throat raw, "How long have I been out?"
"About two weeks," The other girl answered. Green eyes widened for a moment, before she sighed and leaned back against the pillows. Well that had been better than she had expected, but it was still disgruntling to know she had lost two weeks of her life.
Sakura brought her hand up to her neck and began to massage the muscles, "Wasn't that blade that cut me poisoned?"
"Sasori-san is knowledgeable in poisons. He was able to administer the antidote quick enough to stop you from dying, but it was fast acting and your body has been expelling the poison for two weeks now," She hesitate, "You've been in and out of it for two weeks now. Do you remember anything?"
Sakura looked thoughtful for a moment, "I remember once. You kept telling me to squeeze your fingers."
Konan dipped her head, "Anything else?"
"Sorry, no. I've been awake more than that time," the pink haired girl asked.
"Several times. You've even answered questions asked to you. Though, it mostly you babbled about stuff none of us were able to understand. You mentioned something about a-," she hesitate slightly, before blushing, "A Love Hotel at least a couple of dozen times."
Sakura felt heat flood across her face, "Ah, yeah... Wait- what do you mean 'us'? Who else was in the room?"
"Ah well... the Akatsuki," Konan said. Sakura groaned, "Fantastic. I didn't say anything else weird did I?"
"Well...," Konan stopped, seeing the look on Sakura's face. She turned her head when she heard the door open on the other side of the room and smiled, "Look whose finally awake."
Konan stepped back and drew the curtains to the side.
Sakura couldn't help the grin that split across her face as one by one the Akatsuki filed into the room.
XxXx
She hated them. They had come suddenly and before she could register what was happening, before it had clicked, before the adrenaline had even flooded her system; they had taken Shikamaru, Hinata, and Lee down.
A kunai had sliced through Lee. He had enough time to widen his eyes an "oh" forming against his lips, before he had collapsed, blood pooling out of his open chest.
Hinata's chest exploded with the force of a small bomb, sending her flying back. She was out before she even hit the ground, before the scream had properly formed in her throat.
Shikamaru was lifted high into the air by an invisible force. He had cried out before he was slammed down hard into the ground with enough force to make a crater in the ground. His head banged against the ground knocking him out.
And Sakura found herself alone her comrades taken out in less than a minute by an enemy she couldn't see. The air stilled as her breath hitched, torn between fighting and wanting to run to her comrades and begin to heal them. She could do it. She needed to get to Hinata first, the bomb had left a gaping wound. Lee would be next, the kunai stopped the worst of the damage that would be apparent when she took the kunai out. Shikamaru would be next; hopefully their would be no brain damage, but maybe she could be quick enough to reverse it-
Her mind had frozen to a stop when she heard the sounds of clothing rustling and seven shadows emerged from the trees.
The figure that emerged in front of her made her mouth open slightly and she tried to make sense of the fact that a man was standing in front of her like she hadn't KILLED HIM SEVERAL YEARS AGO!
"This isn't real," she breathed, forcing her chakra to dispel the genjutsu, "I killed you. I watched you die."
Why wasn't the genjutsu breaking?
"I'm dreaming. This is a nightmare, and soon I'll be waking up and one of the nurses will be yelling at me because I'm sleeping in the hospital and I haven't done any paperwork in weeks," She mumbled to herself.
A chuckle from behind her caused her to spin around so fast she felt something pop in her neck. Eyes narrowing against the image of the man standing before her now, she turned her head and took in the other five people that were standing around her like they hadn't been killed.
"Haruno-san," the person said, dipping his head.
"Uchiha," she spat Itachi's name, "What the fuck are all of you doing alive?"
He smiled at her.
"Shouldn't you be attending to your comrades, uhn," A familiar blonde asked, waving his hands towards the dying Konoha nin. Sakura's expression turned murderous, "What? You nearly kill them just to watch me fix them again? What kind of sick fucking game is this?"
"Of course not," Sasori said, approaching her, "You either get to heal them and then come with us; or you can try and fight us but wind up like them and then you can all die."
They had caught her and she had known it. Even before he had finished speaking she knew she would trade her life to them in exchange for her friends life. And she knew they knew she would do that. That's why they had placed her in this impossible predicament.
And as she had taken her first steps towards Hinata she could have sworn she saw a positively feral grin ripple across his face.
She hated them.
XxXx
Hope you enjoyed that.
Just to explain: The parts of the story in italics is in fact, the past. So the story in the italics will eventually catch up to the rest of the story and explain some questions that may pop up, whereas the rest of the story will progress regularly.
Sorry for any mistakes I've made in the story.
Please write a review so I can improve any mistakes or any such thing.