Chapter 2


She was

the kind of girl

who was a

chaos of contradictions

from one second

to the next,

for her mind

was never free.


People always told her that darkness is terrifying, but what they fear is not the absence of light but what is in that darkness. However, she may have been quite different. She did not feel an ounce of fear, if anything, it was the utter comfort as if she was being lulled inside a mother's womb, warm and safe as if caressing her gently, and making her momentarily forgets everything that was wrong with her life. But just like the notion, it was only momentary, so brief and fleeting like a snowflake that landed on her hand that day it first snowed, slowly turning into liquid until it vanished completely on the porcelain skin of her palm. And just like that, she was suddenly pulled back from oblivion.

The first thing she felt when she came to was the burning pain in her lungs, she could not breathe as she started to struggle until she was free from the clutches of whatever that shackled her and spring up from the water. Sakura took a much needed breath, filling her lungs with air as she almost stumbled but regained her balance almost instantly. Her vision was hazy before she rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times. Once her vision cleared, she realised it was just the steam rising from the pool as she looked around the unfamiliar place until she felt something behind her and she turned around.

Her eyes landed on several men bathing a few distance ahead before she looked down and noticed a young man was the one who bumped behind her.

He was the first one to scream and not a second later, Sakura did too.

"H-Hey! What – why is there a woman here?! Hey! Brothers!" the young man said, trying to swim back and stumbling once before he run out the bathing pool.

The Imperial Princes squinted their eyes when they heard the commotion and noticed the tenth Prince running up to them, an accusing finger being pointed behind and they tried to take a better look at what it could be that caused the tenth Prince to yell like that.

"There – a woman – a young woman was in the pool. She's definitely spying on the Imperial Princes."

"A young woman?" Shikamaru asked before he looked ahead, sure enough, there she was, standing in the middle of the bathing pool, her eyes darting around like it was the first time she had been to a place like this.

Of course it should be the first time, no other young man or woman, except for the Imperial family and court ladies, are allowed in this kind of place.

The eight Prince, who was sitting on the wooden floor, noticed the young woman Sasori was pertaining to. When Naruto saw the familiar face, he instantly muttered her name that carried a questioning tone with it.

"Sakura?" he said, though his voice may not be as loud and merely spoken only to himself, the third Prince heard him, his eyes turning to Naruto before it averted to the young lady ahead.

Sakura was still in the state of confusion, the unfamiliar place, the men – half-naked, good looking men ahead and the dizziness she is starting to feel made her unable to hear the voice calling for a second.

"Young Lady! Sakura-sama!" the voice almost startled her as she turned to its source and saw a girl hiding behind the shrubs and rocks. "Sakura-sama, here."

Sakura looked back at the men who started to notice her and she had no choice but to go with the woman calling her as she quickly walked up to her.

"Hey! Where are you going, you perverted young lady!" the tenth Prince's voice can be heard yelling behind as Sakura followed the woman.

She could not comprehend a single thing that occurred since she came to that she just let the unfamiliar woman dragged her, hand around her arm as they headed to a cave and out in the open before Sakura tugged on the woman's hand a few times.

"Young Lady, we are seriously going to get in trouble. You have not step out of your chambers for days, we thought something bad might have happened to you and the next thing I know you were in Hana no Tsuki Palace and what was worse is that the Imperial Princes are there as well. What should I do, if words about this reach the ears of the eight Prince – "

The woman was momentarily halted when Sakura pulled her arm quite firmer as she turned to her.

"Wait…" Sakura said, trailing off to catch her breath. "Just wait a sec.."

"Ah, Sakura-sama, are you, perhaps, not feeling well?"

After gulping a much needed oxygen, Sakura straightened up. "You…do you know me?"

The woman averted her gaze for a second before she looked back at Sakura and nodded. "Is there a reason why I should forget the young lady?"

"Young lady? Imperial Princes? Wait.." Sakura looked around, the first thing she noticed were the big rock formation, steam coming from the water around. "Is this not the park? I swear I was in the park," she muttered but the woman heard her as she looked closely at Sakura.

"Sakura-sama, we are in the largest onsen in Konoha."

"Konoha?!"

The woman flinched in surprise before she nodded. Sakura looked around once more, as if she could not believe her eyes, and in this particular case, she clearly does not. But when the mist cleared, like the mist in her mind, she realised what the woman said was true. That they are, in fact, in the largest onsen as women and men alike were bathing in front. It was then Sakura knew, she is dead.

"Ah, so this is…the afterlife."

As she muttered those words, her body fell on the ground and oblivion welcomed her in its clutches once more.

Sakura had a dream.

It felt so real yet she knew it was merely a dream. A memory that managed to resurface as she slowly stirred in her slumber. It was the memory of her falling in the river, an invisible force shackling her ankles, pulling her into the depths of darkness. But as she succumb to the memory, something pulled her back into consciousness and she woke up with a gasp.

She thought she would wake up in her room, or perhaps in a hospital. But instead of white walls and ceiling and the smell of antiseptic, what welcomed her are satin curtains and the fragrance of a flowery scent wafting in her nostrils. The bed, precisely, does not feel right. She had slept in her bed in her dorm, most of the times sleeping until the afternoon, enough to know that she was not lying on her bed. As if the unfamiliarity of the room was not enough to convince her she is not in her dorm or a hospital.

As she sat up, Sakura felt a splitting headache but it was gone just as fast. She noticed a cloth wrapped around her temple as if it could ease her pain, she was not wounded, fortunately, as she saw no blood when she pulled the white cloth down. A few moments later Sakura heard someone coughing and when she looked at the cause of the sound, she noticed a woman sitting on a wooden chair. When Sakura tried to move, she felt the headache again, this time, lasting longer as she hissed and the woman realised she is awake as she stood up. The woman from earlier attending at her side as they walked towards the bed.

"Sakura," the woman said, her voice soft and demure, and so does her clothing. Sakura looked at her clothes, she knew women nowadays do not often wear this kind of kimono as much as the noblewoman hundreds, if not thousand, years ago. "Are you feeling well now, Sakura?"

"Sakura..how do you know me?"

The woman blinked, her eyes were big and doll-like, making her look even more beautiful and her pale skin shows no blemish. She looked at Sakura in concern and Sakura has forgotten the last time someone looked so kindly at her as much as this woman does. "Are you still not feeling well? Should I call the Doctor back?"

Sakura slowly shook her head, but it was not as though as to answer her question.

And then Sakura realised something. "Ah, that's right. I've died. No need to call any Doctor."

"Sakura, you are not dead."

"I'm not?!"

Sakura's eyes widen, her emerald green orbs seem to reflect the light as the woman's words slowly sink in her mind. Whenever she is dreaming, there were instances when her mind is aware that she is dreaming or when her mind would give her ideas that she is in a dream. In cases like that, she would usually do one thing.

She pinched her arm.

When the pain registered to her, Sakura knew she is very much alive. The realisation made her spring from the bed, bare feet thudding on wooden floor as she made her way outside the room and into a corridor, dashing outside. What welcomed her was certainly not a sight she often saw in Tokyo. A wide yard in front, houses and people dressed in traditional clothing walked about. Some were dusting the pillars, some were carrying sheets and cleaning the yard and when they spot Sakura they would stop and bow at her like what servants do to their masters. Sakura found herself gripping her hair, the headache was starting to penetrate again and her ears started to ring as she closed her eyes tightly shut.

She knew this was not a dream, but everything does not make sense. She could not comprehend the things but one thing is clear.

She is not dead.

But if she is alive, how come she is in a different place.

Sakura suddenly heard the woman calling again and she turned to her. "Sakura!"

Sakura's eyes were still wide, fear surrounded her emerald orbs as she looked at the woman.

"Where am I?" she asked in a low whisper. "This is not Tokyo."

"Tokyo? Sakura, we are in Konoha, in Heian-kyo. Are you unable to remember? You are Haruno Sakura."

Suddenly Sakura's eyes turned to the woman. "Haruno?"

She knew she has heard her right. "You said Haruno? Not Haruhi?"

"Haruhi? Sakura, what is it that you are talking about. I do not understand."

The fear that is slowly building up made Sakura's chest tightened as she gulped visibly and take a deep breath. "Who – who am I?"

The possibility of it was so hard to believe but Sakura could not think of any other possibility. The whole situation right now is preposterous enough as it is. Sakura does not know how much of it she can handle before she goes irrational from all the far-fetched things that had occurred from the moment she sprang up from the water.

"You are Haruno Sakura, I am your seventh cousin…" the woman made sure to speak slowly, her soft and tender tone of voice help Sakura to calm down even just for a little. "Hyuga Hinata."

The apprehension hit her like a vehicle speeding down a slippery road and Sakura gasped loudly, her hands going up her mouth as her eyes widen again. If she is not Haruhi Sakura, then she might be in another person's body. And that person's name is –

"Haruno…Sakura?"


The outer gates of the Imperial Palace opened as the men riding the stallions went in, the hooves echoing on the stone ground as they headed farther inside before they halted as they reached the inner gates. The man riding the black stallion took the hood of his cloak down as his gaze travelled up, the men guarding the gates immediately bowed when his eyes landed on them. They kept their heads inclined, too afraid to meet the piercing gaze of the masked man atop the black stallion. Had it not been for their duty as guards, they would have run away like the commoners back in the market.

The man they were so afraid to look at is the fourth Prince, who finally reached the Imperial Palace.

"Open the gates!" the leader of the guards said as the wooden inner gates were pushed open.

"Your Highness," the man beside Sasuke said. "I shall leave a servant with you. Once the Tsukuyomi ritual ends, you are to go back to Kumo. Do not delay your return."

The man's tone was sly and Sasuke did not like it. The way he seem to go about ordering an Imperial Prince on what he has to do. If he was not inside the Palace, the man's head would be rolling down the ground. Sasuke had no qualms following the orders of someone with a lower status as him but no matter how much he made it clear with the man, he seems to always think he has a hold around his ankles, controlling him like the naïve young child that he was back then.

"You must not forget that you are also an adopted member of the Fuma Clan. Do uphold our family's name in the Emperor's presence."

Sasuke could no longer keep quiet about how the man seems to speak, he could not tolerate it as a smirk went up his lips, making him look more cunning and terrifying.

"Family?" he started. "Adopted member?" Sasuke scoffed as he looked at the man, his eyes narrowed into slits as he glared at him. "And here I thought I was your hostage the entire time."

The man was taken aback by Sasuke's display, like a wolf finally bearing its fangs. Sasuke turned away, pulling the stallion to move as it gallops farther inside, leaving the man stunned behind his back before the wooden gates shut close. Sasuke felt annoyance crept on him, his eyes that were narrowed only intensified as he swing his leg and jumped down the stallion. His jaw clench and unclench before he turned back and gripped the hilt of his sword that was strapped around the stallion, unsheathing it and in a swing, the neigh of the stallion echoed around, making the men who were about to leave suddenly stopped, startled at the sound and the man who provoked the fourth Prince looked behind, knowing fully well what Sasuke had done.

The stallion fell with a thud, the blood gushing out from its neck where the sword had slashed its throat. Blood splattered on the fourth Prince's face, sullying his dark cloak in crimson as the warm liquid dripped down his sword. The guards were seemingly surprise, too astonished and scared at the bold act the fourth Prince displayed. Even the leader of the guards gulped down visibly before he looked at Sasuke.

"Y-You are not allowed to use your sword inside the Palace," he said, his voice shaking before he averted his gaze the moment Sasuke looked at him. The fourth Prince took a step towards the man who could not lift his eyes to look at him before Sasuke pushed the sword towards the man and gave it to him.

"Shall I prepare a new horse for your return?"

Sasuke walked past him before he stopped. "Return?"

His eyes that resembled that of a predator, truly a wolf dog, surveyed the surrounding. The Imperial Palace that he used to call home. He was only a child when he was sent to Kumo. The years he spent in the Fuma Clan, no one would ever know the nightmare he had to live each night while trying to comprehend just why it was him who was sent to console the Royal Concubine. But now that he has set foot back in the Imperial Palace, Sasuke is determined to do one thing.

"I will not be coming back."

The fourth Prince, Uchiha Sasuke, is back. And he is determined to stay.

Only he had not the slightest idea then, that his decision would allow fate to play her little tricks on him as well.


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A/N: Thanks for reading! Looking forward to your kind reviews!