I'm back bitches! I has a fun game for all of you! The titles of all of the chapters in this story are from refrains of well known songs. Some of them are obvious, some are not. See if you can guess the correct song the line is from. Kudo's and spoilers to whoever can send a message, saying the right song to me. Give me the correct song title, i'll give you spoilers on future chapters or answer ANY questions on the story.
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, the mystery of TenTen's last name would be solved...It would be Hyuuga...
Once again, the first thing she saw was that infuriating white ceiling. Growling under her breath, Sakura grumbled and rolled over onto her stomach. When she accidentally brushed the large wound on her side, she hissed fiercely and channeled healing chakra into her hands. Upon placing her hand over the wound, she relaxed, feeling the gash slowly healing. Despite concentrating on the task at hand, she recognized the room she was in as the one she originally woke up in.
I wonder how the hell I wound up here...
She pondered her strange predicament, still trying to decide if she was truly in the past, or had really died and was somehow in Sasuke's memories instead of in her own. Yet somehow, that answer didn't seem right. For the time being, she could only assume that she truly was in the past. She wondered briefly if she should stay with the Uchiha Clan, or leave the village, in order to prevent changing the past.
But maybe that was why she was here. Maybe how her story ended wasn't how it was supposed to end. When one sat down and thought about it, the start of the end in her time was when Itachi destroyed the Uchiha Clan. If he had not committed the massacre, Sasuke wouldn't have been so bent on revenge, willing to do anything to get it.
She frowned, remembering all that had happened before she died. Sasuke had finally gotten his revenge; Itachi was dead. But for some unknown reason, he joined Akatsuki and was preparing to attack Konoha. Naruto and Kakashi obviously knew something; something they never told her nor were ever planning on telling her. She had seen it when she went to announce to Naruto that she was going after Sasuke; he had almost said something, but Yamato stopped him.
She didn't want to do it. She just wanted to save Sasuke from himself. He was going down and dark path and had no desire to head towards the light. (Thankfully, she was proved wrong at the last moment before her death. But she would never forget the look of pure regret and sorrow in his eyes as he held her until she drew her last breath.) She never understood why he wanted the fall of Konoha and it appeared she would never understand.
But if she was here and now, maybe she could change all of that. Maybe she could give Sasuke a second chance at life; give them a second chance. Give Team 7 a second chance; a chance to be a real team. One with teammates who loved and protected each other. If she could give that to Naruto and Sasuke, it was the least she could do. She had let them down so many times in the past; they were always saving her and she was always dragging them behind. The least she could do is provide for their happiness.
But onto the task at hand. If she was truly meant to end the Uchiha Massacre, that meant she would have go up against Uchiha Itachi, the murderer. Back in her own time, even as powerful as she was, Sakura stood no chance against Itachi. But now, in the past, before he had the years to perfect his training, perhaps she had a chance. But...the one glance Sakura had at the older Uchiha brother left her confused...
She had learned the Itachi destroyed the Uchiha Clan when he was only thirteen. Yet...when she had seen him, he did not appear to be thirteen. If her eyes were not fooling her, she would say he was sixteen, like her, not thirteen. Back in her time, he was seventeen when he came to Konoha for the first time, in attempt to kidnap Naruto. That had been four years after the massacre, not just one. And for little Sasuke, he was certainly not nine. No, he looked about twelve...
"You're a medic-nin," a monotone voice broke her out of her thoughts. The green chakra in her hand spluttered a couple times before completely going out. She frowned, recognizing that voice, and slowly sat up. Uchiha Itachi stood in the doorway, looking at her with impassive black eyes. For a mere moment, she considered that one might think they looked like Sasuke's: deep, dark, and cold. But there was something different about Itachi's. Sasuke's eyes had always been full some kind of emotion, whether it be hate, anger, or annoyance. But Itachi's eyes were blank. Sakura could not decifer his emotions like how she could with Sasuke.
"Hai," she nodded slowly; he had seen her heal herself, it was no use hiding it anymore.
"What else aren't you telling us?" he demanded, his voice cold and hard. Had Sakura been her twelve year old self, she would've flinched at the harshness. But she was a strong woman now, even in the presence of a man who had once been feared by all. Instead, she sat up straight and faced him with fire in her eyes.
"I see no reason to answer to you," she retorted," As far as I'm concerned, Fugaku-san is the Head of the Clan and it is him that I should answer to." Itachi frowned at her for a moment, as if annoyed by her sassy answer. But in the next second, he gave a light smile. It took Sakura by surprise; she had never seen an Uchiha smile; Sasuke certainly never did. As Itachi smiled at her, she thought it looked rather good on him. His facial features softened and she could see a tiny bit of emotion in his eyes. Amusement.
"I knew it would be quite interesting if we took you in," he said, stepping forward into the room," The doctors suggested we keep you for the time being to keep you under watch, seeing as we did not know where you came from."
He continued to smile calmly as he walked forward until he was standing beside the bed. As she looked up at him warily, he took a seat on the bed next to her. It confused her with how casual he was being; he was talking and acting around her like he would an old friend.
"But since you have a Konoha hitai-ate," he continued speaking, not caring if she was listening or not, but knew she was nonetheless," And also have medical training, Otou-san says you were most likely the apprentice of a former medic-nin from Konoha, correct? If I had to take a guess, I'd say you are the apprentice of Tsunade, the Slug Princess."
By the way he smiled at her, Sakura had the impression of the smile Sai used to give to her. It clearly said that he knew exactly what he was saying, and if she tried to deny it, he would know she was lying through her teeth.
"Hai," she nodded," She took me in three years ago when my team split up. We all went out and found our own teachers. I found Tsunade-shishou."
"Aa," he nodded, letting the smile slide off his face," But that doesn't explain your tattoo."
"My...what?" she blinked, trying to feign pure confusion. In the back of her mind, her thoughts wandered to the bandage on her left arm, wondering if they had removed them when they were healing her.
"Don't try to lie, Sakura," Itachi warned her," It will only land you in trouble. I know full well that you bear the ANBU tattoo on your left arm." Unconsciously, Sakura's right hand went up and gently covered the bandage on her arm. "And the area surrounding the tattoo was slightly red, suggesting you just got it recently," he went on, suddenly finding that toying around with a kunai was very interesting.
She narrowed her eyes at him, knowing that what he said was true. After the fall of Konoha by Pein's hand, things had gone out of control. As they were slowly rebuilding their great village, it was discovered that they would need more ANBU to protect the village and take on more missions. A select few were chosen and even few approved by Danzou, the new Rokudaime Hokage. Sakura still doesn't know why she was approved by Danzou, but figured it was because she Naruto's teammate and he wanted to use her to control Naruto. The day Sasuke's execution was announced and Cloud's shinobi went out to hunt him down, she recieved the ANBU mark. Danzou himself gave her her first mission: protect Konoha from outside influences until it's fortifications could be reestablished. It was simple enough orders, but she was treated like a true ANBU all the same. She even had a uniform waiting in her closet back home, never worn yet. She left it there when she went after Sasuke, but took her mask. A mask of a beautiful red cat.
She never told anyone from the Rookie Nine that she had made ANBU. She knew of a few others who had made it, such as Neji, Shino, and TenTen. Shikamaru had been offered the position, but turned it down, refusing it out flatright. Rock Lee tried, but never got Danzou's approval for his lack to use chakra.
Sakura hung her head, remembering the painful memories of what she used to call home...
"It was...necessary..." she said quietly, wishing upon wishes that Itachi would leave it at that and not question her further. To her secret joy, he did not ask any more about it, but pointed out something to her.
"You did not want to become ANBU," he commented.
"Like I said, it was necessary," she repeated," It was not my choice."
Itachi was silent for the most part. They both just sat there, thinking their own separate thoughts. It was Itachi who was the first to move. He stood up and walked back towards the door. Sakura listened to his footsteps as he walked; soft, quiet, gentle. When the footsteps ceased, she looked up and saw him standing in the doorway, his back to her. His rough hand rested on the doorknob, just sitting there as if he had just opened it. He never glanced back at her, so she could never imagine what his face looked like as he spoke.
"They say there is always a choice...But as ANBU, people like us know that we have no choice. There never is one..."
And as he walked out, Sakura did not know what to think. Yet in the back of her mind, in a stray thought she would not look back on until she fell asleep that night, she realized he had said 'people like us.'.........
Uchiha Fugaku sat at the kitchen table, drinking his tea and thinking rather hard. His wife, Mikoto, was busying herself at the stove over some concoction he's rather not know of. His youngest son, Sasuke, sat at the table as well, doing his Academy homework. For a brief moment, Fugaku wondered how his youngest son was doing in school; hoping that he was the best in the class. (Of course he is.) But no, his thoughts were mainly on their current houseguest, Sakura.
They had found her three days ago, on Itachi's sixteenth birthday. Sasuke had been at the training grounds, trying to get some training in before the party. He had been training even more often now; he would be taking the Academy graduation exam in a year and then placed on a shinobi team. But on that particular day, instead of bringing a present to his brother's birthday like most people, he arrrived late with a letter from the Hokage.
As if appeared, he had found Sakura at the training grounds, in life-threatening condition. Having found Iruka of the Ninja Academy, together the two of them brought her straight to the hospital. After a brief visit with the Hokage, Fugaku discovered that she was very important to Konoha and would need a place to stay until better accomodations were made. Seeing as it was his son who found her and that she was obviously someone well known to the Hokage, Fugaku offered his home. When the Hokage agreed, Fugaku had to hold back a smirk. He was sure he had gained a little bit more of the old man's trust...
So Sakura was given the guest room and visited daily by a medic-nin. Upon the second day, the medic had asked if there was anyone else caring for the girl medically. When they told him no, and after further investigation, they discovered that the little pink haired woman was a medic-nin herself. Even unconscious, her own healing chakra was running through her body, trying to heal on its own. The medic had said it was a rare ability, to be able to condition chakra to heal even unconsciously; it took absolute perfect chakra control and even more perfect training.
And during this whole ordeal, Itachi had been a little more than content, having been forgotten completely. Having a mysterious house guest called for more attention and Itachi enjoyed his personal freedom while he could.
"So what should we do about Sakura?" Mikoto asked her husband. Fugaku looked up from his tea at his wife, who was still hovering over the stove.
But it was not Fugaku who spoke next, but rather, Sasuke. "You know, she reminds me of someone from the Academy," he spoke, never looking up from his homework," A girl with pink hair and a really annoying personality. Haruno Sakura."
"Hmm," Fugaku rubbed his chin, thinking," Pink hair is not a very common thing. Perhaps they are sisters...but why would they have the same name?"
"Do we even know if she is a Haruno?" Mikoto interjected.
"Hn, no," Sasuke answered, still not glancing away from his homework," The Hokage said her full name was Senju Sakura."
The name definately caught his parents' attention.
"What did you just say?" Mikoto whipped around and for the first time in her life, spoke in a hard tone to her youngest son. Sasuke looked up, surprised to see his mother in such a state.
"Uhh," he blinked, not quite sure how to handle this. Both his parents were looking at him, demanding an answer. He was not too sure what was going on, but judging by the look in his father's eyes, he was in deep trouble if he did not give the answer they wanted.
"Uhh, the Hokage said her full name is Senju Sakura?" he repeated nervously.
His parents stared at him for a second more, before returning to what they were doing as if nothing ever happened. Sasuke was beginning to develop a headache; he was still trying to catch up with everything that had happened. His mother was cooking, acting as happily as she always did. His father returned to drinking his tea, but muttered under his breath," A Senju...Of course she's a damn Senju..."
What the fuck is this?
The only word Sasuke could use to describe his emotion at the moment was just plain confusion. Three nine year old children faced him in a line, each staring back up at him.
"Sasuke, meet my niece and nephews," Yashamaru introduced. When she introduced them by name, Sasuke did not pay attention. He already knew who they were.
Holy fucking shit!
Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara stared up at him with big wide eyes, watching him with hawk-like observations skills, as if waiting for him to do a trick or something close to it.
"And since he doesn't have any place to go to until he fully heals and we don't know where he came from, he's gonna be staying with us," Yashamaru finished, addressing the children. All three broke their gazes away from Sasuke and looked at their aunt.
"Yay!" Temari and Kankuro cheered, happy that their new 'friend' was staying. Gaara remained silent.
"Aa," Sasuke nodded in agreement, then turned to Yashamaru," Could you tell me where the training grounds are?" Sasuke needed to think. And of course, whenever he needs to think, he can't think of any place better to think then training grounds.
"Can we come with?" Temari's eyes lit up hopefully as she nudged her way into his line of vision. Before he knew what he was doing, Sasuke found himself nodding.
"Yay!" once again, the eldest Sand siblings ceered and both raced off in the direction of wherever the training grounds were.
"I think they like you," Yashamaru smiled widely, lightly punching him in the arm. He glared at her for a moment, both for suggesting that the children liked him and for even touching him in the first place. But the older woman ignored it as she turned around and began walking home," Be back before nightfall."
Sighing, Sasuke started walking in the direction the hyper duo had gone in. When he felt something in his stomach clench, he stopped in his tracks. It was then he noticed that Gaara was still standing in the exact place he had been ten minutes ago. The redhaired child was staring at the sandy ground, thinking kami knows what.
"Are you coming?" Sasuke asked, glancing back over his shoulder. Gaara's head shot up so fast that it probably left him with whiplash. He stared at Sasuke with huge aqua eyes, shocked that Sasuke had even asked him a question.
"If you want to be a strong shinobi, you're gonna have to train," Sasuke continued, speaking in a completely serious tone. He was sure of what he was saying and decided not to treat Gaara as a child. He wouldn't treat any of the children as little kids; they would one day be shinobi and needed to be treated as such.
Sasuke could remember a time when he first discovered that Gaara possessed Shukaku, the Ichibi. Naruto had told him that the entire Sand village feared Gaara and treated him like a monster; rejecting and hating him...
Not waiting to hear Gaara's response, Sasuke headed back towards the training grounds. He never slowed his stride, even as he heard Gaara's little feet pounding after him. Soon enough, the little redhead appeared at his side, silent as ever.
"Arigatou...nii-san," Gaara mumbled, keeping his eyes ahead and never looking at Sasuke, no matter how much he wanted to. But he could not help himself and glanced up at the older man.
Sasuke was watching him out of the corner of his own eye and Gaara could swear that he saw the beginning of a smile on his face...