A/N: Changed a lot and sorry about the slow update; work as well as trying to move is getting in the way. Since my son killed my laptop I have to use public pcs until I fix it... (and most libraries don't have word!)
IMPORTANT: Changed details, like Naruto isn't the Hokage anymore. I realized something in the manga that my bf told me so I decided to get a whole new turn for it. Also fixed a few in the past chapters so yeah enjoy.
Oh and I thank everyone for the reviews too! I am still shocked that people like this story!
If it's a double post again sorry; I am working on this horrible doc. issue ;
#
She was running with her friends to see the Kazekage. Naruto was eager to see Gaara and possibly complain about his position. The journey to Sunagakure was hard but she considered it a challenge.
Sweat pouring off her pink locks, giving into the tempting failure was great, but no she was relentless. She wasn't the useless girl from before; she was powerful and worthy of people.
Then, mania started to seep in at the many chakra signatures she felt near the gates of Suna. The closer they approached it, the more panic inhabited her body.
Two people were attacking Suna; one was a strange blond and the other was something weird hunched over man. Temari and the Anbu there were trying to hold off the blond while Kankarou was dealing with that guy...
That blond idiot rushed into battle while she decided it was smarter to go and help the puppeteer instead. Whatever this thing was it was powerful, shooting poisonous darts everywhere, while using that menacing tail.
The world around her was acting in slow motion; she was charging at the monster person, Naruto was yelling about something and Temari was crying about her brother.
The Kazekage...they were attempting to kidnap Gaara...
Poison...needles...Kankuro…She recalled one of them hitting him and some smoking getting to her, but she had to act as he fell over in pain. Using her chakra, she rushed over him and diagnosed the poison in his body, quickly treating an antidote. It was powerful whatever it was.
Once he was out of the danger zone, she had to face the strange thing by herself while the others dealt with the blond guy, who was exploding things now in a fiery blaze. She read that a few of the Anbu were dead now and that the rest was injured badly...by seventy five percent.
She wanted to help them but no she had to defeat this guy first...
Had to...defeat...
Everything around her was spinning and she didn't realize how the axis of the world sudden went tilt.
#
When she was awake, she noticed that she wasn't in Suna anymore and that she was out of range of the warfare.
Her first thought was that she was saved by Naruto or Gaara's siblings, but when she saw she was in a room of some kind panic started to set in.
"I see you're finally awake little girl."
A voice, a strange voice startled her. She jumped and tried to pull out a kunai, but found out she had no weapons. Her whole body felt drowsy and loopy still; almost falling over again.
She met the eyes of what she thought was an angel; he was handsome and young, whoever he was, and wore nothing but black. Red hair that reminded her of the Kazekage as well as those dull eyes...
Kazekage! Gaara! She tried to get up again but fell backwards.
The boy or man just gave a glee filled look. "Hah. You did attempt to cure the poison for that bastard child but not yourself." He approached her, the look only intensifying and scaring her more. "But don't worry, I won't allow you to make an antidote for this poison."
His lips ghosted hers and the hairs on her neck stood up. She wanted to punch him so badly but her body felt lethargic and weak. He parted and grinned; looking insane as he took off his cloak.
And that's when the nightmare started.
#
"Sakura-sama! Miss Sakura-sama!"
Sakura shook her head and turned to the voice of one of her nurses, Miyaki. She pushed a strain of her green hair and blinked at her superior.
"Sakura-sama what's wrong?"
"Nothing...I was...just spacing out that's all!" She chuckled nervously. "Why do you think something was wrong?"
"...Because you are crying Sakura-sama."
"Huh?" She touched her face and felt tears down her cheeks. Pieces began to flood her mind that she tried so hard to forget.
"I'm quite taken by you little girl...no one has made a counter to my poisons before."
"So perfect...I should make you into my doll...my living doll…my experiment."
She felt sick; bile filling her mouth. Her whole body was weak and she thought she would pass out. Dizzily, she ran towards the bathroom.
"Sakura-sama!"
#
Nezumi dragged herself home after another dull day at the academy.
The kids were teasing her again and her sensei reminded her again about her stupid lack of fighting skills. She wanted to kill that sensei so badly; why couldn't she have Konohamaru-san?
Then one day, he vanished, like that, and she was stuck with Iruka-sensei for the day. She liked him; he was the youngest of the teachers. He was kind and cute and would give her Ohagi.
The mousey girl did see that strange person at least once a week. She could feel its presence a lot around Konoha and it was strangely comforting.
The third Kazekage doll was still in her bag. She found it creepy but she didn't want to throw it away either. Mom told her not to just give away gifts and for some reason she didn't have the heart.
Nezumi stopped suddenly at the surge of chakra. It was...the Hokage? She stared as the Hokage Hatake Kakashi just sudden appeared in front of her face. She ignored the delay reactions of the rest of the Konoha residents.
Unlike the others, her mom told her that Kakashi didn't change at all since she was a teenager. He still had that grey gravity defying hair as well as that mask over his face, but his clothing was just a casual sweater top as well as a pair of loose slacks. It was very difficult to tell that he was the leader of a village.
"Nezumi-chan there you are." She hated when he called her that; mostly because he did it on purpose to get on her nerves. It was like he could see through her facade and actually know about her true personality and demons.
"You have to come with me; your mother is in hospital recovery ward."
#
The little mouse girl sighed; this was ironic. Her mother was a patient at the hospital that she worked for. The room that the Hokage teleported them to was filled with various nin and Anbu; most of them she recognized.
Shizume, Gai, and Genma all stood around; Gai worrying about Sakura and being motherly like. It was comical to a degree. They were all Kakashi's advisors as well as some of his guards since they were all veteran ninjas and close personal friends of the Hokage.
Next to the bed in an unusual fashion were the Anbu members as well as the captain: Sai. Even though he didn't have his mask off, she knew which one was he. He was mumbling something to another member, who did take his mask off.
"Sakura-chan! Oh Sakura chan are you alright?" Naruto rushed over and started to make a scene like Gai.
Her mother gave a weak reply and tried to shush the frantic blond. Nezumi wondered how did the loud adult ended up being part of the Anbu elite along with his friends Kiba, Neji, and Lee. All of them were very bizarre and erratic adults in the opinion of the mousey girl.
Next came up Rock Lee in terms of embarrassment. He was as excited as the blond; fretting and asking her for anything that she needed. Both men were in love with her mother, but for some reason she didn't go out with them.
'Probably has something to do with father.' She felt like she didn't belong here, but someone nudged her to the bed to her pale mother.
Her mom seen better days; she had heavy rings around her eyes and looked like she was thirty, not in her early twenties. She still had the fire in her voice around her friends, but she barely spoke to her daughter about a whisper.
"I'll be fine Nezumi I just overworked myself that's all."
"Overworked! Sakura-san! You passed out and have been very ill!"
"It's probably the poison again..." Shizume sighed and shook her head.
"Is there anything you can do about it?" Kakashi looked worried for the first time to the girl.
"No I am sorry to say; even Tsunade-sama couldn't figure out a way to get it completely out of her system without killing her. Sakura has been using various anti bodies to try to cure the poison in her body, but so far it's only making it more stable. She cannot really function as a ninja with this in her body..."
"So you are saying..."
"Yes she might have to retire and just be a common citizen for a while; she is anemic and very weak so it takes a lot out of her to do long term healing chakra."
'Retire? Go home?' Part of her was filled with glee and she tried not to show it. Nezumi turned to her mother and saw that she was holding back her tears.
"No...please don't say that."
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto turned to Kakashi. "Please don't tell me that's true! She loves her job Kakashi-senpai!"
"Yes! Sakura-san lives by helping people! To put her as just a commoner..."
The little girl quietly walked out, not taking more of the nonsense of adults.
#
Nezumi sat in the swing, kicking back and forth.
Her mother in the hospital wasn't a big thing to her; the fact that she was going home and the adults were REACTING on it was a big thing.
"She can finally be a mother for once...and stop going to the hospital all the time." She mumbled, gripping the chains and kicking at the ground.
Then suddenly the air changed; just like that. She stopped kicking at the ambiance, making her shiver down to her bones. The six year old slowly pulled her head up.
There was that man again standing right in front of her. The way he was so close was uncomforting.
"Yes?" She needed her personal space.
She thought she heard the man chuckle before pulling off his hat. Nezumi stopped breathing.
The man in front of her HAD to be her father because he looked like a carbon copy of her. His hair was darker and reminded her of blood and his eyes were dull, but full of emotions. The only thing that was different that she noticed was his eyes weren't the same color.
"Nezumi-chan." His voice was creepy; it wasn't too deep, but it was smooth like a dagger and went with the whole angelic look.
"Otousan..." She bit her lip and shook; for the first time she was crying.
The man smiled and nodded his head; the little girl picked up her bag and walked right next to him. Pulling out a wara-ninygo, she tried to contain herself for the man she hasn't seen in her entire young life.
"I know you have questions but don't worry, I will answer them all."
She was silent and knew that if she said anything it would come out wrong.
Today was the best day of her life.
#
Sakura rolled over in the bed, still in the hospital just for the time being.
After Kakashi rushed everyone out along with her nurse, she finally had time to think for herself.
The pink haired woman noticed that her daughter left early on. She didn't know what to do with that girl.
She tried her best to be a good mom; she worked, housed, fed her, and even talked to her, but it was like a wall was between them. When Nezumi was younger she would tell the woman her whole day and always had a smile on her face.
But now...'She's looking more and more like HIM everyday.' Sakura whimpered at the memory; she couldn't blame her daughter for that.
But every time she looks at her, she keeps on seeing him in her. It took years of therapy and even now...
Her daughter was missing; probably at home. She focused on that thought alone; using a technique that her shishou taught her.
Sakura wished her master wasn't gone; she wished that she had someone to talk too besides the therapist. Naruto was so busy with Hinata and her family, Sai was busy with Anbu, and Lee...
She couldn't bare to tell him everything; she cared about him too much.
Maybe...if only maybe, she didn't have Nezumi, she would have been with her blond teammate, she would have been the one smiling and laughing in a blissful marriage.
Maybe, if only maybe, she wasn't in this situation, she would have been with kind handsome Lee and they would have such a sweet family.
Maybe, if she didn't go to Suna, she would have been able to get into Anbu. Because of that bastard, her body was weaker and she could only go on certain handicapped missions.
Working as the head of the hospital was the only thing she had left and now that was gone. Sakura whimpered as she bent over and sobbed in the sheets.
She has been fighting this poison for years, but due to having Nezumi it stayed in her system, making it harder to cure. She can function yes, but it took a lot to use basic chakra moves. Overworking herself resulted in what happened today.
'I'm still weak...so weak.' She wanted to die so badly; her demons were working through her mind overtime today.
'I haven't changed at all have I?' Her hair fell in her face and she thought how easily it would be to just escape from all of this.
'Cha! What are you saying! You're Haruno Sakura; you're better than this!'
Sakura made a gurgling noise and her inner self rolled her eyes.
'Bah! Stop being pathetic! So what if all of your teammates have better lives than you! You will get over this! If you die you are letting that bastard win!'
'...You're right.' Sakura sighed; she didn't want to listen to her inner self, but she had a point. If she gave up now, then what would she had? Everything that the two sanin's did for Konoha would have been nothing.
'Except for Orochimaru...' The pink haired nurse mused; she hasn't heard of him in a while. Most of the news came about the Akatsuki group that invaded Suna and have been taking over various lands for so called 'peace.' For the past years it has been a secret war been the demon hunting group and united villages against them.
Sakura pulled the sheets over her head; she felt exhausted suddenly. Closing her eyes, she hoped she didn't have any nightmares tonight.
While she was between sleep and consciousness, she thought she felt something touch her face, but couldn't grasp her mind on it.