Hello! Welcome to Chapter 2 of Daughter of Prometheus.
Inner thoughts
Thoughts/expression of separate consciousness inside another being
As this is my first fan fiction, please don't forget to read and review! Without further ado, here is the chapter!
Happy reading!
...
Haruno Sakura opened her eyes and gasped for breath. The methods and justus she'd used to return to the past in this timeline had been complicated, forbidden, and requiring extremely delicate chakra control. She closed her eyes and calmed her hyperventilating.
When she opened them once more, she immediately spotted the signs of her success: the peach wallpaper from the room she had in her family home, the smallness of her tiny, clenched firsts, and the gratuitous length of her signature, pink hair. Sakura looked at the calendar on the wall. She still had a little time left at the academy. Sakura grinned as she looked in the mirror and spotted the purple diamond at the center of her forehead, the visual confirmation that was the ever-powerful Hundred Healings mark. This meant she also had access her Mitotic Regeneration skill, if needed.
She would have to hide the mark around Sarutobi-sama, as her Shishou was his pupil and would recognize the mark instantly; or, she could use it to prove her identity without a doubt. She would have to find a way of warning Sarutobi about the attack from Sound and Suna, and Sakura's connection with and intimate knowledge of Tsunade-sama might be the only way to do so.
It was part of Sakura's mission that she need not hide her skills. Some, of course, she would conceal (the existence of Kaguya, dormant within her, for example), as any shinobi would; others, she would display without hesitation. Now that she was strong, she would not play the part of the weak and incapable academy student her peers knew before.
I want this life to be different. Not just because that is what the mission requires; I have personal reasons for wanting to change the future-past. I will not live the same wretched life again. And this will begin with… a new outfit.
Sakura rose from her bed and strode across her room to her closet. Her eyes landed on the red qipao dress which had been a staple of her youth. Ugh. Sakura would never wear that ugly, impractical thing again. She rummaged through her closet and found black, tight, elastic shorts she could move easily in. Then, she donned a fishnet shirt, over which she placed a tight, red tank top which carried the Haruno symbol on the back. Sakura quietly mused that the Haruno symbol looked curiously like a target on her back. The red tank top wasn't just for show; it was crafted from thin, interwoven metal fibers instead of cotton. It wasn't just a shirt; it was chainmail armor.
Sakura smiled as she stepped into black, reinforced, knee high boots, which Ino had gifted her last year, quite similar to the ones which would become an essential part of her wardrobe when she was older. There was a slight heel which accentuated her legs yet didn't inhibit her movement—Tsunade-sama had taught her long ago how to use reinforced heels to her tactical advantage. Though they weren't specially made for combat in the way her fingerless gloves or shoes were in the future, she still preferred the look of the gloves and slid them on. Her hair… was just a nuisance. She looked at the dull kunai on her right but caught a glimpse of her alarm clock in the same sweep. Her eyes widened in shock.
"Shit! I'm going to be late!" Sakura swore, pulling her hair up in a high ponytail so that, at the very least, it wasn't obscuring her sight or impairing her fighting abilities. She strapped a weapon's pouch onto her right and left thighs and filled them with the little ninjawear she owned as a 12 year old. She had long ago trained herself to be ambidextrous, under the tutelage of Tenten, in order to maximize her weapon-using skills and improve her arsenal of mid-range attacks requiring little ninjutsu. Sakura sighed.
This will have to do, she thought.
Sakura disappeared in a swirl of cherry blossom and opened her eyes to see the front door of the academy. She opened the old, beaten door and walked quickly down the hall to the homeroom door. She had noticed Sasuke's presence behind her when she arrived, but simply ignored his bewildered reaction—how had she just appeared like that out of nowhere?— He wondered as he kept walking forward without breaking his stride.
Sakura entered into the room and her eyes landed on an empty seat near the window in the middle row. She chuckled inwardly as she joined Shikamaru in cloud watching. She missed their long, Shogi battles and tactical conversations.
A bright, excited ball of orange burst inside the room. It was Naruto, all bark and no bite again. He was so different from his future self, yet Naruto would always be Naruto; even in the future, his good nature never spoiled despite all the carnage he'd seen. A part of Sakura wished she could tell Naruto that he would grow taller and stronger than he could ever imagine...that everyone in the future was dead. Sakura smiled at him. Seeing Naruto again was glorious and her expression seemed to reflect that feeling, as Naruto blushed furiously and approached her desk.
"Sakura-chan, can I sit with you today?" Naruto grinned brightly and rubbed the back of his head, anticipating her angry recoil.
Instead, Sakura's smile widened and she said, "Of course you can. Let's be friends, what do you think?" She stuck out a hand to fill the space between them.
Naruto looked as if she'd summoned lightning from the sky. Cerulean eyes wide with adoration and surprise, he said, "really, Sakura-chan? You mean it?" He quickly shook her outstretched hand.
Kami, I must have been such an asshole to this kid for him to react this way, she thought. Sakura cursed her younger self for being so blind. "I really mean it, Naruto. Take a seat." She gestured to the spot next to her. Naruto looked a little hesitant and Sakura made a face that was so charming that several boys around her blushed. Naruto bent down and took his place flanking her. Sakura noticed Sasuke's chakra flare.
"Come to think of it, Sakura-chan, you look kind of different today… How should I put it? Well, I don't know, but it really suites you!" Naruto's flushed cheeks and breathy voice told her without looking that he was gushing a bit. He was excited, and bless him.
Ino Yamanaka walked proudly through the sliding door; as far as she knew, she was the strongest kunoichi in class. That was about to change. Her eyes landed on Sakura. She raised a blonde brow. "What's with the outfit change, Forehead? Think you can get Sasuke-kun's attention by changing your clothes? And what's with the forehead tattoo? You know that won't hide your billboard brow."
Sakura assumed Ino was referring to her Hundred Healing mark and she couldn't hold back laughter. "You've got it all wrong, Ino-pig. I changed because my clothing was impractical for a shinobi… not unlike yours. And this mark? Sorry," Sakura gave a mysterious smile and tapped the diamond, "it is a clan secret."
Ino balked at this. "You come from a civilian family."
"As far as you know," replied Sakura, shrugging. If she did happen to have children again, they would be shinobi and she would teach them how to protect the ones they cared for. So, she considered this to be the unofficial reinvention of the Haruno clan. And technically, she became an Uchiha in her last life.
"Oh, on the matter of Sasuke-san, he's all yours, you can have him. I no longer have any feelings for the Uchiha." Sakura felt the hairs on her neck stand up a bit, but made no outward acknowledgement of the feeling of being surveilled. She knew where the stare was coming from: none other than the brooding, dark haired Uchiha heir himself…Sakura just didn't know why he would care to listen in on her conversation. The Sasuke she knew did his best to distance himself from silly, fangirl disputes.
Well, I am not a fangirl anymore, Sakura thought. Maybe he's simply curious about my transformation. But why? He hardly has interest in anything besides revenge. I don't even know how I am going to fix that particular mess… I can't just let him kill his only living relative out of tragic misunderstanding. There has to be a way to show Sasuke that Itachi was trying to protect Konoha, not destroy it; that Itachi sacrificed everything in exchange for the life of his little brother.
Ino snorted. She shifted, placing hands on her hips."Sasuke-san? Sure, Forehead. I'll believe it when I see it."
The blonde 'harrumphed' and turned to face Sasuke, whose deep, dark eyes were staring into Sakura's viridian orbs. The look was probing. Sakura had guessed why he was looking at her, but now she was sure; she wasn't his fangirl and hadn't even looked his way the entire class, but he finally caught her gaze. Sasuke watched as her jaw tensed in irritation at the sight of him. Sakura's eyes narrowed and she turned around,—was she angry at the Yamanaka girl for being near him? No, Sasuke got the sense that he was the one being considered an irritant.
Iruka-sensei entered the room and began a long lecture on chakra manipulation.
How boring, thought Sakura. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the window, happy to rest and feel the heat of the sun.
"Excuse me, Sakura, am I interrupting your nap?"
Sakura opened one eye. Do you really want me to answer that, Iruka? Interrupt my sleep again and I'll destroy you with my pinky.
"Sorry, sensei."
Then, before going back to sleep, she cast a genjutsu over Iruka and gave the picture of her eyes a little extra glimmer as the conjured image portrayed a young Sakura, rapt with fascination at the content of the lesson.
Once indoor lessons were over, it was time to train outside. Everything was terribly basic.
How do they expect us to become good shinobi with such inadequate training? Sakura wondered.
Sakura floored just about everybody that day; she held back, but it was a day that would go down in Konoha history as the first inklings of the unveiling of a genius. Instead of going through the entire kunai running course in the forest, she moved and arced in such a way as to release all the kunai in a near simultaneous action. Though it appeared as though every kunai was thrown at the same moment, it was actually Sakura's remarkable speed that made it possible for every kunai she threw to hit the dead center of the target, no matter the distance or angle; each tree seemed to shake with the force of her throws; each weapon made a loud thud as they sunk deeply into the target. She chuckled. The forest vibrated and hummed, seemingly singing her praises. This was nothing.
"Wow, Sakura-chan! You gotta show me how you did that!" said Naruto as he ran over enthusiastically.
"I've been doing a little extra training. What's next?" asked Sakura nonchalantly.
Iruka was silent but his eyes were glued to the pink haired academy student. Then, he spoke up. "Next up is taijutsu, everyone. I'll be picking your partners… Alright, Ino, you're with Sakura, Naruto, you're with Kiba, Sasuke, you're with Shikamaru…"
Sakura grinned. Oh, Ino-pig was in for an ass kicking. Sakura and Ino took their places at each ends of the training ground. Noticing the tension between them, Iruka said, "Remember: this is only taijutsu, so no ninjutsu." Sakura's eyes crinkled with mirth. She didn't need chakra to send Ino-pig flying across the training ground.
That might be a bit drastic, Sakura thought.
So, instead, Sakura took a page from the book of the asshole she knew best. Sakura shunshined (aware that, of course, shunshin was a technically ninjustsu; but Sakura's goal during this match was not to follow rules, but to begin to make a name for herself) and reappeared behind Ino. Sakura quickly struck Ino at the base of her neck,—"Sorry, Ino," she whispered,—as she knocked the blonde unconscious. Sakura caught her would-be friend as she fainted.
Everyone stood in shock,—after all, it had all happened in just a second's time. Yesterday, Sakura hadn't stood out at all as a kunoichi besides her rare genjutsu type, chakra control, and high-scoring intelligence. It sounded like a set of advantages, but where it really counted,—on the battlefield,—those traits didn't amount to much in her past until she took it upon herself to begin to train and improve upon them. But she had been nothing but a paper ninja, ill-suited for the field. Sakura had never displayed this kind of taijutsu nor ninjustsu mastery before. Sasuke's eyes widened as Sakura handed Ino over to a shocked Mizuki-sensei.
As for ninjutsu, their job was to create a clone. Everyone gasped when civilian-born Haruno Sakura produced a clone without using hand seals, with a bored and indifferent look on her face. Sasuke was raging inside, though he wasn't sure why. There was something inside him; it was him, but it wasn't him.
Why did she hide her abilities? How did she gain so much power? He brooded. He would confront her after class.
As the day proceeded, Sasuke watched Sakura. Oh, she was aware it was happening. In fact, she was counting on it. Sasuke was attracted to power, and if she could become a source of power for him to become stronger (not that she would, not the way Sasuke was surely hoping for, anyway),—but the mere possibility—would inevitably drive him toward her. So, Sakura readied herself for her first one-on-one conversation with her ex-husband since returning to adolescence. Sakura was halfway out the door before she heard Sasuke call her name.
"Sakura."
She responded by ignoring Sasuke and continuing on her way. The academy was no place for a conversation like this. Sasuke almost, almost gaped. But he understood the need to follow her, so he did. Sakura led them to Training Ground 4 in complete silence.
This is odd, thought the young clan heir.
She quickly cast a genjutsu over the grounds so they wouldn't be seen or heard.
"…you aren't the same Sakura I thought you were, are you?"
Tell the boy, boomed the slightly stirring voice of Kaguya in Sakura's mind.
Why? Sakura couldn't see the pros to revealing her identity. …it's nice to hear your voice again.
Tell the boy. Kaguya repeated sternly. Do not begin this life with a lie you cannot abide, child.
Sakura huffed and turned around in the clearing.
"Alright, you got me. I'm not the same old Sakura. Well, to be specific, I am not the Sakura you think you knew. The reason I hid my abilities is I didn't want my secret discovered: I lived once before this." She decided the half-truth was best. It would be better for everyone if they all believed she was still "their Sakura" and had simply been hiding her abilities.
"…that's impossible," responded Sasuke slowly.
"And yet here we are. You noticed something was off, so I suppose I'll throw a bone your way. Yes, we knew each other in my past life. I helped you revive your clan,"—Sasuke's eyebrows rose at this, and Sakura pressed on,— "and after you killed Itachi, Madara tried to destroy the world. You returned to the Alliance after years of being a mi…"
Sakura hesitated. There was no way she was going to tell him he left the village. That he turned around and betrayed Konoha again, attempting to destroy the world and rebuild it using the Infinite Tsukuyomi. She would stop that if she had anything to say about it.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He urged her to continue. He couldn't believe his ears but something just out of reach, in his mind, was telling him her words were true. "And?"
She let out a sigh. After a long moment, she said, "And we got married. Had a child." Sakura inhaled. "But that will never. happen. again."
"Why?" Even Sasuke didn't know why he asked this question.
"Because you were a miserable father and husband. I raised our daughter while you went on some long journey in search for penance. You are my ex-husband and…" drawled Sakura, nonchalantly; Sasuke watched as her viridian eyes narrowed in compounded fury and determination. "I would never choose you again."
Sasuke growled. Something inside him, but not quite him, rioted at Sakura's words. "So what will you do now?"
Sakura smirked. "Prevent a few disasters. Date, maybe? Train…. Not that I'd need to in order to kick your ass, Uchiha."
"Psh," scoffed the raven haired adolescent. He ignored the disrespect and boundaries she threw his way by way of her new, more formal way of addressing him. Not the usual Sasuke-kun. "You have terrible marks in taijutsu and ninjutsu," Sasuke stated blankly. "You don't know a single ninjutsu outside substitution and henge, you have no kekkai genkai and your kunai barely stick to the target board. You care more about looks than power, I mean look at the length of your hair. You don't even have your priorities in order. You're no match for me."
Sakura laughed mockingly at Sasuke's words. "You haven't activated your Sharingan yet, Sasuke. Right now, you don't have a kekkai genkai either." His blood boiled and the way he clenched his jaw made Sakura smile even wider. She held a finger to his lips. "A ninja must look beneath the underneath."
She moved at the speed of light; quickly, she shunshined backwards, landing on the opposite side of training ground 4. Her eyes flashed and her smirk deepened, as if she knew something he didn't. She lifted her pointer finger and tapped the ground. Sasuke never saw its coming. It was as if her finger was a wrecking ball, upending trees and boulders and knocking the reeling Sasuke off guard. Enormous fissures and cracks darted like lighting through the ground and Sasuke was trapped.
Sakura laughed. "If I'm so dainty, what does that make you?" Her eyes crinkled with mirth. "You know, when we were married, you insisted that I keep my hair long, and I always hated that. But I have a solution." Grinning broadly, Sakura reached into her kunai pouch and swiftly and gracefully slashed through the fibers of her ponytail. She held the chopped off ponytail and tossed it onto the incapacitated Sasuke's chest. "This way, you get what you want, and so do I." Her new, emboldened and shortened hair flagged in the wind.
Ahh, much better, thought Sakura as she felt the familiar breeze on her neck.
Sakura pointed to the purple diamond which Sasuke had noticed earlier. "Thanks to this,"— and a deal I made with the devil,—" Sasuke, you'll never be my equal. I am telling you this because you are weak yet think yourself strong. You are bounded in a nutshell, yet think yourself a king of infinite space. You are arrogant. The ninja world is larger and bloodier than you could ever know, and it's clear you're not ready for it if you believe yourself to be its center."
Sakura had to debunk Sasuke's absolute belief that his only means of living was in pursuit of revenge; that he could value things for their own worth. Her eyes softened and she took the opportunity to say what she had been working up to: "You need to learn to work with others. There's a reason they put us in three man squads, you know?"
Sakura huffed and walked over to where Sasuke was pinned under several boulders. She threw them to the side with ease, and without saying a word, turned around and began to walk away.
Sasuke was fast, but Sakura impossibly was faster. Blinded by rage, the young Uchiha rushed her back, kunai already reaching to strike. Probably because of the massive differences in their power, Sakura saw all of this in slow motion. Sakura smiled and met his fiercesome assault with a single finger; she twisted him in the air and with one single chop to Sasuke's forehead, he was down, body surrounded by a crater of decimated earth, completely unable to fight.
Sakura sighed and said, "See? You're lucky I'm a medic."
Sasuke's consciousness, just hanging onto being awake, registered that she was essentially manhandling him now. She laid him against the trunk of a tree. Sasuke saw the glow of green chakra envelop Sakura's hand which closed over his lids.
"Sleep," she urged. "You don't need to be awake for this part." Sakura was not doing this out of kindness, she told herself. It was because she didn't want to deal with the prickly and recalcitrant Uchiha. Her hands went to his temple and she quickly fixed his concussion; then her hands moved to the physical damage done by the blunted stones flying through the air. She reset his shin bone and right forearm and pumped healing chakra into each limb, until they shone with the glow of health. She rolled her eyes at the now unconscious, perfectly healthy Uchiha.
"I know you're watching, ANBU-san. Take this brat back to the Uchiha compound. He should rouse by the time you reach the estate," Sakura called out. She had made sure to cast a genjutsu in the forest which concealed her conversation with Sasuke involving her "past life."
Kurenai-san would be proud, she thought.
She heard a sigh from the tree behind her as the ANBU operative appeared in front of her.
Is he ROOT? she wondered. He bore the mask of a cat. Sakura almost grinned, she'd recognize that spiky, silver hair anywhere. He was not ROOT.
"How old are you? What's your name? You're pretty sharp for your age…" He said languidly. Apparently, the mask lent Kakashi-sensei some courage, Sakura mused. She looked at his pocket and there it was: Kakashi's trademark Icha Icha Paradise.
"I'm 12. My name is Haruno Sakura," a mischievous smile played at the corner of her upturned lips, "it is a pleasure to meet you, Hatake Kakashi."
Though Sakura could not tell what his expression looked like, Kakashi's stiff body language and heightened pulse told her she had taken him completely by surprise. As if anticipating his question, Sakura said, "I have been honing my delicate chakra control since before I entered the academy. That is why I was able to sense you. And after all, who wouldn't recognize the famous copy-nin of Konoha, who split the world in two with his lightning blade?"
The masked nin remained silent. Yes, build a backstory. That's it, Sakura urged silently. "Anyway, make sure this brat gets home safe. He lives in the house at the heart of the compound and his room is the third, on the right, down the hallway. I don't have time to sort out this trash." She almost spat the last sentence.
The ANBU cocked his brow beneath his mask. "Are you sure you don't care about this boy? You told me where he sleeps so he can get home safely."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "I have no feelings of warmth toward the Uchiha; but someone once told me that, while it is true that people who break the rules are trash, those who leave their comrades behind are worse than trash."
The operative shifted uncomfortably. He had heard those words, or a familiar iteration of them, before, and from a fallen comrade no less. He looked at the sleeping Uchiha. "Ms. Haruno, you really must…"
The ANBU trailed off as Sakura disappeared in a swirl of fragrant cherry blossoms. His eyes widened. Academy students weren't capable of such a jutsu. She hadn't even used handsigns.
"Dammit." He bent down and picked up the raven haired boy and leapt from rooftop to rooftop until he reached the right house, in the heart of the Uchiha compound. Moments after they arrived, Sasuke eyes flickered open.
"You alright, kid?"
Sasuke whirled to face the intruder, only to find the masked man. "What happened?" he croaked.
The operative shrugged. "I didn't get there until after I heard the 'boom.' I don't know the details of it, but it looks like you sparred with your pink haired friend…" a soft chuckle emerged from his throat. A 12 year old civilian girl at the academy had unmanned, unmended and unmade the young clan heir. "….it looks like she beat you, then healed your wounds."
Sasuke stood, and for a moment he couldn't control the look of surprise that cracked the usually placid visage of his face as the memory of sound defeat flooded back to him.
"Gotta go, kiddo. Cheers." The ANBU waved, rather amusedly, and made his exit through the window.
"Hn."
Physically, Sasuke felt good. His body felt light and warm, and he could remember the hazy image of Sakura's green chakra relieving his intense pain. Emotionally, he felt… angry. And curious. He would get to the bottom of this nonsense tomorrow, at the academy. Sasuke bit into a tomato that he'd grabbed from the fridge. He trundled off to bed. He dreamt of the calm look on Sakura's face as he rushed toward her, kunai drawn,—he could've killed her if he wasn't careful.
Actually, Sasuke thought as he drifted off, she sort of proved I couldn't kill her, even if I did try. Something inside him warned that she was not to be trifled with. How strong, he wondered, would their progeny be if he had a child with a kunoichi as powerful and talented as Sakura? He much preferred Sakura's new attitude towards him to Ino or Ami's.
…..
Sasuke confronted Sakura again by dragging her out to a far corner of the Academy training fields during lunch. Sakura watched him with crossed arms, waiting for him to speak. After a few long moments, he didn't, so Sakura obliged.
"And what does my ex-husband want with me today? Are you here to apolog—" Sasuke cut her off.
"Did we ever get a divorce?" he asked.
Sakura looked back at him, her gaze hesitant and questioning. Sasuke forged on: "you said ex-husband. So, did we ever technically get a divorce?"
Sakura tensed. "Well, the world was ending, so I was a bit late filing the divorce papers…" What was Sasuke's angle here? What did he want from her?
Sasuke looked at her. "So, technically, we're still married,"
I mean, yes, in a separate timeline. But not here! she thought. "No, I said we were married in a past life, not that I'd like to replicate the process. I thought I had been clear on that."
Sasuke knew he was being stubborn… and even unreasonable. But something just kept biting the words out. "You produced the heir, will you really walk away from such an opportunity?"
Her eyes widened, then narrowed. "I wasn't aware the position was being offered, nor proffered,"—Sakura liked wordplay—"to a simple, civilian girl like me. I am unworthy."
Sasuke scoffed. "You hardly acted like one today. You even used shunshin; my cousin Shisui wasn't even as fast as you. Now all the shinobi clans will want you."
Sakura giggled, and for a moment she looked like the innocent girl that her mission had transformed her into… on the outside, of course.
"Eh, I don't think anyone has caught wind of me yet. My appearance tends to lead people to underestimate me. Besides, I can handle it. I dealt with a fair bit of this in my former life. Clan politics, I mean," said the pink haired shinobi. She frowned a bit. In truth she loathed clan politics.
Sasuke was silent. Then, he opened his mouth. "Your new outfit…"
"—is armor and chosen with the life of a Shinobi in mind." Sakura finished for him firmly, as if anticipating being chastised for perceived frivolity.
"I was going to say that I like it," Sasuke smirked, "but okay."
Sakura furrowed her brows. "Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Smirk at me like you're the bloody Hokage," spat Sakura.
Sasuke wondered about his future child. "Spar with me."
Sakura felt a little bewildered at the suggestion but took it in stride. "I'd swat you like a fly, Sasuke-kun," said Sakura with a saccharine smile. "Besides, unless you're a completely different Sasuke than my past life, there's just no way. Wasn't yesterday enough?"
Kami, thought Sasuke, that girl looks like Satan in a Sunday hat. But it seems everything I knew about her was a lie. Did she pretend to be my fangirl to help hide her abilities? I wonder what I did in my past life that would provoke such animosity out of Sakura.
She already told you, didn't she? rumbled a voice deep within the wells of his mind.
Who the hell are you?! Sasuke thought, alarmed. Though, on some level he already knew.
I am you, but from a different time. I am here to make sure you don't make the same mistakes as I did in the future… which includes my treatment of Sakura. Only she is powerful enough to fulfill the conditions for reviving our clan… though try not to consider this your primary goal. It would be better for us to gain her trust organically and with authenticity… that woman has an acute sense for bullshit, and for all your coldness, you are a terrible liar.
Sasuke groaned at the complexity of the situation. After a few minutes of close-lidded thinking, his eyes shot open. What did she say she was going to do? Train and…
Date. Sasuke felt his older counterpart's rage resonate within his.
Sasuke remained silent as fury lit a fire in his stomach.
Doesn't sit well with you, either, does it? growled Sasuke's older self.
During Sasuke's internal monologue, Sakura studied him carefully, and decided her presence was no longer needed. "Well, if that's all, I think I'll take my leave."
Sakura tried to make her way past him, but Sasuke stopped her with an outstretched arm. He peered into her viridian orbs and said stubbornly, "train with me."
Sakura wasn't afraid to return his gaze. "Don't worry," she said, patting Sasuke's head as if he were an infant, "We will have plenty of time for me to kick your ass in the future."
With a knowing smile, Sakura disappeared in a rush of cherry blossoms. Sasuke breathed in the fresh scent left behind by the flowers.
What did she mean by that? Sasuke asked his internal guest.
You will be placed on a three man squad with her. Consider yourself lucky. And watch out for other lecherous shinobi. Sakura is unimaginably strong, beautiful, and determined. Trust me when I say that I had my job cut out for me, trying to eliminate all her suitors.
How is that possible? Sasuke asked in earnest as he walked back to the compound.
In the future, Sakura gains great power. She becomes the pupil of the Godaime and one of the three legendary Sannin; not only does she become the best healer that the shinobi world has ever seen, but her extremely delicate chakra control enables her to use the most precise amount of chakra possible, at the perfect moment. That's just the beginning.
Does this have anything to do with the new mark on her forehead? Sasuke wondered.
I see that as a kid that I wasn't a complete idiot. Yes, that mark is very important. It represents one of Sakura's trump cards. In the case of that Yin seal, it is the externalization of chakra reserves she spent years expanding. As for the rest, you'll just have to see.
Sasuke furrowed his brows as he walked the dark streets of the Uchiha compound. Is that why she was able to beat me so easily the other day? Is that where all that power came from?
The older version of Sasuke chuckled. It's a shame that I always underestimated her. To answer your question, no, not at all. When Sakura beat you senseless and then healed you, she didn't use an ounce of chakra from her seal. I once saw her destroy a third of Madara's army with one single strike to the terrain, without the help of that seal. She also saved us many times, with her own hands and with her summons. She even rescued us from being stuck in a dimension of endless sand when we fought Kag—an enemy together.
Sasuke stopped at the entrance of his home. Sakura has a summoning contract? He thought for a minute. But the Sakura I just encountered seems to loathe me. I don't understand… was I that bad of a husband and father?
… Yes. Sakura's love was wasted on me. I don't blame her for being angry, furious even. But we will not stand by and watch Sakura, the future Uchiha clan matriarch, trollop off with other men.
A heavy silence followed as Sasuke took off his shoes and made his way into the house. He collapsed onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. She said that I went on some sort of journey and left her alone…
I had many sins for which I needed to repent… I know now that I was simply being selfish. I felt the only way to make up for the things I did was by punishing myself, but I was actually hurting Sakura more than any self-inflicted punishment could.
I have so many questions. What do you mean, "the sins for which I needed to repent,"? Sasuke prodded.
All in good time. Hopefully, this time around, we won't make the same mistakes.
On that point, they could both agree.
….
end of chapter 2!
Please read and review! This is my first fanfiction, so I appreciate all form of (hopefully constructive) criticism. Anyway, welcome to my crazy story. Hold on for the ride. :)
—Peregrine Passage