firefly dance
️
️
0 – MINUET
️
️
️In the days of yore, before the Sage of Six Paths did bestow his wisdom unto the people, before the birth of the Demon who would entrap all in her spell, before the existence of the Heavenly Tree faded from the memory of mankind, the Elemental Nations had once been an isolated continent located in a certain sea on a certain planet. The violence so prolific through the lands deterred foreign intrusion by all but those who luxuriated in the chaos; even those individuals were rapidly swallowed into the throes of a war that spread like a viral infection, eroding lives and minds until only a bestial husk of humanity remained.
Then princess Kaguya Ōtsutsuki partook in the forbidden millennial fruit of the Shinju, ushering in a brief period of peace before she too succumbed to the foul corruption of its absolute power.
Her last act as the Rabbit Goddess was to separate the Elemental Continent from the blossoming tumult that had begun to grip the rest of the world, relocating the entire landmass into a realm of her dictation. As generations passed following the rise and fall of the Demon and the dissemination of chakra to all within the realm, knowledge of a world once spanning past the borders of the Shinobi no Sekai was lost to lore.
When children are born, their spiritual and physical chakras are in precise balance. The scale is even; the slate is blank. The development of the two energies theretofore depends on genetic disposition, the available environment, human interaction, and the decisions made over the course of a lifetime. This is a law of nature in the world of the shinobi. It is true without exception.
️
I – MOUVEMENT
️
Haruno Sakura is born on March 28th under the reign of the Yondaime Hokage in the Konohagakure General Hospital. She is 1.85 kilograms and 42.8 centimeters. Though well-to-do, her parents are civilians of no particular importance, so the nurse may be excused for performing only a basic scan of the infant's chakra coils. This is enough to deem the child healthy, ordinary.
No one notices the minor discrepancy in Sakura's chakra levels.
Her spiritual energy is higher than it should be.
Inner Sakura has been an integral part of Sakura's life ever since she could remember. Even when she is alone, she is not truly alone. This serves as a great comfort because Sakura is often alone, and more than often lonely.
Sakura often reads, too. She isn't stupid. She knows that hearing someone in her mind is not normal.
When she slips up and speaks to Inner Sakura aloud, her parents believe she has made for herself an imaginary friend, as some do at her age. But she's seen other children; their invisible people aren't only in their heads. They're in front, beside, behind them, separate from the self. Just friends that cannot be seen.
Inner Sakura is Sakura, though at the same time she is also Not-Sakura. Inner is just as attached to Sakura as her own arms and legs, her hands and feet, and Sakura knows she is oh-so-very real.
Especially so when she hears things from the part of her mind home to her special inhabitant.
Like any good girl, Sakura faithfully learns the geography of the world when she lays hands on her first book on the subject. She learns the borders of Fire Country, learns the distance from Earth to Lightning, learns all the known countries, learns that the world is flat and the sun is round.
Inner doesn't say that the map is wrong, but she feels it.
Sakura feels it too. Not that the map is incorrect, just that it isn't quite whole, like the world is a puzzle that cannot be completed because she only has one piece of it.
Sometimes when she sleeps, she hears people. People who don't speak to her, only just speak. It's never the same words, sometimes the same voice, but never the same words.
There is no proof that it has anything to do with Inner, but Sakura knows it does.
️
II – GLISSÉ
️
"Just leave him be already. He's free!"
The first time the voices manifest into sight, Sakura is ten. She wakes up with tears trailing down her cheeks and the afterimage of fire burning her retinas. The desperate wails of a lonely boy ring in her ears.
She still feels the phantom touch of snow on her skin and it terrifies her and excites her in turn.
️
III – CABRIOLÉ
️
"I... won't run!"
"Sometimes... the blood just goes rushing to my head. I feel like if I run, I'll lose something important and it scares me. Back then... Luffy was right there, behind me."
"I want to get stronger. Strongerand stronger. And stronger, and stronger, and stronger, and stronger! And then even stronger still! Then I'll be able to protect anything. I won't have to lose anyone anymore! You've got to promise me... Don't ever die, Ace!"
"So remember this, Luffy. No matter what, the two of us have to live our lives with no regrets! We're going to set out to sea someday, live our lives the way we want to... With more freedom than anyone in the world!"
The almost-visions come and go, short snippets of something that seems more like a dream within a dream than anything else. Sakura won't admit that they have any power over her during her waking life, but sometimes, she opens her eyes in the morning and though her heart aches and aches and aches she feels like she could take on the world.
She... doesn't dislike it.
️
IV – SAUTÉ
️
"There shouldn't be anywhere that is beyond our reach. Why are we coming up with empty reasons, convincing ourselves to give up on all that? We should have the courage to seek out what we truly want! If it's the humans that are stopping us, then we should go up there and face them. If we do that, then the future that awaits the children of our land... might change a little for the better!"
On the day of registration for the Chunin exams, Sakura is determined. She is determined to prove to herself her own value. She is just as motivated as her own teammates, just as resolute. Backing down isn't an option - she will make it through the exams. She won't just survive, she will thrive. That is a promise.
She breezes through the first stage. The second stage is more difficult, but Naruto and Sasuke and herself manage to survive the not-genin snake who calls himself Orochimaru, and afterwards, she makes sure that no one else lays a hand on her unconscious teammates. It hurts, and she loses her long hair. But when the never-ending onslaught is finally over she feels satisfied. Exhilarated. And something else she cannot name, but it feels… good.
Still, she hurts all the way up to and through the preliminaries, feels like she's waged a war against the world and lost. Ino looks healthy, uninjured, and Sakura is glad for it because no matter what she says, she still cares for her lost best friend. She continues to feel glad for it, until their names are scrawled in digital blocks across the board.
Inner saves her when it feels like she's already lost.
The two rivals tie.
Sakura is proud.
Ino is her friend again.
️
V – TENDU
️
"Stay by my side, my angels... and please, wipe those terrible looks from your faces. I let my guard down... I was just so happy to finally have all those signatures. So, no matter who is responsible for this, please... do not feel any anger on my behalf. I would never wish for you... to be consumed by anger and hatred on my account. We are so close… My children, I know you can reach... the light of the sun...!"
The final stage of the Chunin exams come, and there is a foreboding weight in her chest. She is not participating, so she doesn't understand why she feels this way, but it stays with her the entire day.
Chaos overtakes Konoha.
The Sandaime is lost.
Sakura finds herself horrifically validated.
️
VI – ÉLEVÉ
️
"We will not become wild animals! We're still human! There shall be no killing!"
"Thank you," says the boy she loves.
️
VII – PLIÉ
️
"More, more...! I want the whole country trembling with fear. And then, when they've come to hate King Riku with all their hearts... That's when the hero will appear!"
"... King Riku is trampling all over our hearts. He stole our money, and now he means to kill us! All in his own self-interest... He's treating us like garbage!"
"Damn you, King Riku. I hate you! You're nothing but an inhuman piece of shit!"
"I've come to save this land. My name is... Donquixote Doflamingo."
Left discarded on a cold park bench, Sakura dreams of mad men clothed in the vibrant hue of her hair.
She dreams of burning sorrow and infectious rage. Of unfaltering love and indelible hatred. Of warm tears and cold smiles. Of kings and their prisoners.
She dreams of a man with skin too pale and hair too black. She dreams of thank you and goodbye.
As dawn finally peers over the horizon, she awakens with a bitter taste in her mouth.
️
VIII – TOURNÉ
️
"That money is my children's share. I don't have enough to pay for myself. I'm sorry, Gen... I... I just can't bring myself to say that I don't have a family. Even if it means I'll lose my life. Even if it's just mere words, I still want to be called as their mother. Those girls... are my children, aren't they?
"Nojiko, Nami... Don't let anyone beat you. Even girls have to be strong. No matter what happens, don't ever hate the world you were born under! It's alright if people don't praise or compliment you, just don't ever lose the strength to smile."
"You'll be my first example to the others. Die for your stupid love."
"My daughters... I love you."
"I have no choice but to do it myself! I know everyone is doing their best just to pay the tribute. And if I ask anyone for help... They'll just end up injured. I don't want that to ever happen again."
"I can still smile even when look at his face. I've decided... to never cry again! I'll fight, and I'll do it alone!"
Haruno Sakura wakes up one morning and goes to speak with the Godaime Hokage. She looks straight into honey-gold eyes and makes a request.
Even girls have to be strong.
️
IX – FLEURET
️
"When do you think a person dies...? When his heart is pierced by a bullet? No. When he is inflicted with an incurable disease? No. When he drinks soup, made from a poisonous mushroom? No. A man dies... when he is forgotten!"
As Akasuna no Sasori's poisoned sword slices through tissue and muscle as if through paper, Sakura falters for a transient moment. In the length of a breath, Inner, who has laid dormant for two long years, speaks to her. No. Inner does not speak, she is spoken from.
The moment vanishes. The battle between blood resumes.
Sakura watches as Akasuna no Sasori willingly succumbs to the fatal embrace of his Mother and Father. She watches as Lady Chiyo uses her life force to wrench Sabaku no Gaara from death's clawed grip. She watches, and vows. She will always remember.
️
X – TOMBÉ
️
When the man who calls himself Tobi opens his strange portals, Sakura… hears things. Nothing distinguishable - it is muffled and distorted, as if from the bottom of a lake - but the resonance is familiar.
War is a greedy, spoiled child. Its sticky hands are far reaching, grasping at everything it can see and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. It takes and takes and takes and she doesn't know if it'll ever stop.
Sakura hears things almost constantly now. The enemy is Uchiha Obito and then Uchiha Madara and then Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, and all of them seem to dissolve the walls between worlds into nothing.
When they are pulled into the Demon's genesis dimension, it crowds into her ears; voices, noises, the rushing of the ocean, everything closer than ever. She ignores it, shunts everything aside but the battle being waged in front of her, and then her boys are victorious, they're alive, they've won…!
Sakura grins and looks to Kakashi. Her smile slips, because someone is standing a short distance away and she knows this person, knows her very well. Like a trance, the scene around her, the tailed beasts, Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, they fall away from her vision and her feet move forward. The thundering of drums pounds in her ears. She can only see the soft, understanding smile on her own face staring back at her.
Before her hand touches the manifestation of herself, she stops. Thinks. Glances over her shoulder.
Her boys are gathered together. Naruto grins and pats Sasuke on the back. Kakashi places a hand on each boy's heads and smiles. They are safe, healthy, content.
She... isn't needed there. Not really.
After this there is nothing that will come that they cannot handle together. Even if Sasuke has not forgotten revenge just yet, Sakura trusts the bond between the brothers with all her heart, knows that Naruto will bring him back in the end.
Besides, she thinks, glancing back at her duplicate. It isn't as if she'll really be gone. Not for them.
When Naruto waves her over, Sakura finds a smile tugging her mouth but does not move.
"I love you," she tells them. Her voice travels well in this realm. Naruto grins and Kakashi gives her a warm look and Sasuke says nothing. Sakura's heart feels warm.
"Goodbye." Their eyes go wide. Sasuke shifts towards her. Kakashi reaches out. Naruto begins to rush forward, an alarmed look on his face.
"Thank you for everything."
"Saku—!"
She falls.
She is glad. They will soon find their happy endings, all of them.
As for her… she hasn't found her fairytale yet.
[Sakura has always been a little selfish.]
️
Notes:
What is Inner Sakura? Well, she serves as a sort of connection between the original world that the Elemental Continent was on (aka the One Piece world) and this new dimension that the Shinobi World has been placed in - a sort of crack within the dimension, if you will. She's the remaining dredges of the spiritual energy of the Rabbit Goddess (the benevolence of Kaguya, back when she was still benevolent), an impression upon the realm left behind by her last sane actions. This energy was added to Sakura's soul while in conception. Inner is not a person so much as she is a concept that Sakura superimposed her needs upon as a child, given partial sentience through that tiny bit of Kaguya's spiritual chakra. As Sakura grows older, Inner becomes more and more her, absorbing her personality, her likes and dislikes and beliefs and memories and heart, until Inner and Sakura have become the same person, contained in the same body. In the genesis dimension, the combination of this spiritual duplicate of Sakura, created by the Rabbit Goddess's yin energy, was exposed utterly to the yang (physical) chakra of the same person. Combined with the immense amount of the chakra that's Sakura's been spouting like crazy, Inner Sakura manifested in a body of her own. [Does this make sense? I have no clue.]
Now, Sakura herself has been exposed to the One Piece world through the connection of Inner for her entire life. She's a highly empathetic person at heart. She sees the pain, the hurt, that so many people have to suffer, and she sees a place where she can actually be useful, instead of just being a convenient but unnecessary support. It's kind of like when you see your favourite anime characters' abusive pasts and you just want to hold them tight and make it all better. But she's also rather selfish - she sees the adventure, the freedom, the newness of it all, and she wants that too. So she does a kind of baton pass with Inner (now just Sakura) to take her place. The Naruto world keeps a Sakura, and the real Sakura goes off to play. (I mostly just wanted Sakura to enjoy herself in the OP world without worrying about everyone back home mourning for her.)