The Burden of Future

~Chapter 10~

Hello, friends! Sorry for not posting this chapter sooner, but my Internet was down and, well, you do the math. Anyways, here's chapter 10!

Hope you enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto? NOOOOOOO! I thought I did….

"Cast me in Tsukuyomi." Sakura said, a determined expression on her face. Itachi looked at her, mildly surprised by her request but otherwise not showing any emotion.

" Why?" was his direct, single-worded question, which was exactly what Sakura didn't want to hear.

'So you were hoping he would use his best technique on you just 'cause you asked him to?'

'Kinda…'

"I need to show you something," she answered, looking him straight in the eyes.

"What do you have for me to be interested in?" Itachi said, rising an eyebrow slightly.

"…It's about the clan… and you."

She wasn't surprised when his eyes widened in shock at what she was actually referring to.

"Don't move," he said and the tomoes in his eyes started swirling rapidly. Seconds after, she was frozen in place, terrified, but at the same time relieved that he hadn't cut her throat the moment she referred to the massacre.

Her vision blurred slightly, a sense of nausea washing over her but that soon ended as she finally woke up to see her surroundings. All could have been described as nothing and everything at the same time. It looked like they were floating in the air, as masses of steam were all around them, but they were also standing on solid ground. The… atmosphere was somewhat reddish, the air, or whatever that was, being quite chill and heavy. She couldn't quite describe it, but she couldn't exactly feel…there. Her skin was numb and it reminded her of that feeling when you stay with hands too much in the snow and they seem to have lost all their senses. She was standing still, not because she was afraid necessarily, but also because she didn't need to move. If she wished to look a certain direction, she would immediately see it, without moving at all. Feeling a slight shift in the air, she sensed Itachi's presence not far away from her. She moved forward, or more like flew forward, until she met the Uchiha. He was standing a few feet in front of her, his eyes, still crimson, set on her.

"What about the clan?", he asked calmly, completely different from his hasty self from before.

"T-There is something I have to explain to you first…" Sakura hesitated, not knowing how she should put it. "You see, I've been having these dreams…" she started of slowly, studying his expression.

"Dreams that sometimes got repeated and dreams that sometimes were singular, unique, a one-time deal, like the one I had last night… I've come to realize that every time I had a dream that I'd never had before, it would come true, to the slightest detail…" she said, stopping momentarily as she saw a slight squint in the boy's eyes. It was really risky what she was doing at that moment, but she couldn't back away now.

"I've dreamed about Shisui's death," she said and she caught him tensing a little,"… I've dreamed about you becoming ANBU…" and again, Itachi reacted, his hand almost moving to his kunai pouch.

"…and, of course, I've dreamt about the massacre."

If she hadn't known it happening, she probably wouldn't have reacted in time, despite all her training. In a fraction of second, he grabbed a kunai and sped right towards her, the weapon to her throat. She was now motionless, with a kunai right under her jawline, but with one in her hand as well, pointing directly to Itachi's heart. He was looking at her fiercely, his hands trembling as he tried hard to contain his feelings.

"You know you're not supposed to know this things…" he said, the threat clearly present in his voice,"What good did you do by telling me?".

She stared back at him, not even flinching under his powerful glare.

"Not much, actually. Just wanted to see the expression of that someone who'll make my friend and teammate go crazy with revenge in hopes of killing him."

She expected him to be surprised, to be shocked at the fact that she knew so many secrets that a 7 year old child was not at all supposed to know, but he wasn't. More than that, she could actually see, after a while, his expression turning into one of realization and relief before his gaze fell upon her one more time. He seemed to be hesitating over something but then it seemed he finally made the decision.

"Okay." Itachi said, Sakura totally taken aback by his answer. "I understand you're telling the truth, but I need to see if all of it is true."

"What do you mea…."but she didn't get to finish her answer as an unimaginable pain shot through her head, making her scream and cringe in agony.

"Don't fight back…" she heard Itachi's faint voice ringing in her ears and so she did. She would have done anything, really, if it got rid of that unbearable throbbing in her head. Few moments later it was over and she fell to the ground, panting heavily and still holding her head tightly. It had been a real shock for her to experience something so painful in such a short period of time. She got up, still wobbly on her feet and looked at Itachi only to be totally taken aback by the view in front of her. Images of her memories, of her life till then were passing slowly right in front of her eyes, every moment that had been thoroughly recorded in her brain flashing lively there and then for Itachi to see. But that wasn't the problem. Oh, not at all. The big, the huge, the enormous problem was that not only her present life was showing, but her past life as well. It was a technique, an extremely painful one as well, that revealed one's memories and that's exactly what was happening at that moment. She watched in horror as images of those clandestine events were passing in front of the Uchiha's eyes, images like the Konoha Invasion, Sasuke as Orochimaru's student, the 4th Shinobi War, images of her dying and being born again…

She stood there, frozen in place not even daring to look at his face.

'Damn it, damn it, damn it! This wasn't supposed to happen!'

She waited for a reaction, any reaction to come from Itachi, but none did. After a whole minute spent in utter silence, she jolted when he finally muttered:

"Thank Kami…" he said and looked her straight in the eyes, a faint smile appearing on her lips."… you're the same," and with a swift hand gesture in front of him, he made Sakura speechless. His own memories appeared, flashing brightly in front of her eyes, all together with what seemed like the future. That only future that she knew too well, that only destiny she knew for her dearest ones. She got up and rushed to them, trying to convince herself she wasn't seeing well.

"T-This can't be…" Sakura said, shuffling through them, the truth being harder and harder to deny.

"You-You're…" she stuttered, too shocked to even talk properly.

"Yes," Itachi said, smirking at her antics," I'm a reincarnation as well."

She stood staring at him, not ready to grasp the fact itself. Her nonexistent thoughts were interrupted, though, by a sudden shout, but more like a gleeful shout coming from behind her. Turning around, she saw herself, or, better said, another Sakura, pop out of nowhere and start running around in happiness.

"Inner?!" Sakura came to realize, looking at her other-self embarrassing her. "When did you come out?"

"Few moments ago, when you were too distracted with Uchiha's memories. Oh, hi, Itachi!" she waved joyfully at him.

"Hi," he said, a slight tint of amusement present in his voice.

"Inner, go back to your place." Sakura said, pointing towards, well, towards nothing.

"Oh, come oooooon! I just got here!" Inner whined, being her first time to taste the freedom of having her own body. "Can't you let me 5 more minutes?"

"…."

"Pleeeeaaaaseeee?"

"…."

"Pretty please?"

"Three minutes, go."

"Yeeeeeyy," she said and she fled.

"Damn, kids these days…" she said before turning towards Itachi. "Um, that's uh… me."

"Double personality?"

"Kind of."

"Can't judge."

"Now, about uh…"

"Yes," he confirmed,"… I'm also a reincarnation."

They both stood silent, not sure what to say. Sakura pondered over the facts, over the odds of this happening.

'It truly is luck what we're having.'

"How did you know I was a reincarnation?" she asked, curious about what had given her away.

"If you were really having dreams about the future," Itachi responded," You wouldn't have known Sasuke's feelings, as your premonitions would have been based only on images."

'Oh…'she thought, mildly surprised at his sense of observation.

"Did you…change anything?" she asked shyly, not really wanting to put that question, but in need of changing the subject.

"Not exactly," he retorted simply, "Nothing really important has happened up until now for me to change."

"Ah, I understand….So, what are your plans for the future?" Sakura said with a bitter smile.

"Let's get out of here first. My chakra is almost done with this genjutsu, we have to get out of it."

"Wait, this isn't Tsukuyomi?" Sakura asked bewildered.

"No," he answered," It would have damaged my eyes too much as they aren't used to it yet."

"Ah, right," and both of them disrupted their chakra flow to finally be in reality.

They woke up staring at the darkened sky, dimly lit by the moon's light. It was already night outside and the cockroaches had already started their peaceful melody in the fresh air of the night. They were laying on their backs on the cold hard ground, their hands brushing the already damp strands of grass.

"So," Itachi started and Sakura met his gaze," You've been having bad dreams?".

"Wha.. Oh, that." she realized, flustered," What was I supposed to say? That I have a kekkei genkai that lets me see the future?... Actually, that might have been a better idea…".

She laughed at her foolish mistake and she could swear she had seen a small smile on the Uchiha's lips.

"You asked me if I have changed anything," he said suddenly, changing the subject,"… What about you?"

"Me? Only small things compared to what I plan for the future," she murmured and sent him a look, "Want to share?".

"Hn," and so they started talking about the said future and the priorities in what had to be changed about it.

"We've got lots of work to do…" Sakura whispered, her face blank after the discussion she'd had with Itachi.

"Might as well start it," he said and looked her direction.

"Yeah," Sakura murmured, a determined look on her face, " Let's save the world."

That's it for today, guys!

Here's a thought: I'm gonna have a poll put on my profile so that you can decide whether you want me to post short chapters on a daily basis, or if you want me to do it once a few days, but with a longer one. Let me know about it and have a nice day :D!