Authors Note: Hello readers! Due to a family member passing, I was away for quite some time. However, I am back now. Over the time I spent away I have been working on my writing and improving, so I will be going over this story and revising the first two chapters. Nothing major will be changed but I do feel like I was sticking a little too close to the show when I first started, so I will most trying to make the storyline a bit more original so it's more enjoyable!
The changes I will be making are in no way going to impact the rest of the story, so if you have already read to chapter two there's no reason to read back unless you would like to! To any new readers, I hope you enjoy! The pairing is still up in the air but this story is going to mostly be plot/action first and romance second. I have never had a Beta before but if anyone has any suggestions or tips on how to find someone to Beta for me I would be so thankful!
Be warned, this is an AU, so things will be different! Adding to the fact that I'm basically inventing my own Cursed Seal do not be surprised if Sakura has an affinity for a charka you aren't used to her having! That being said, I by no means want my version of Sakura to be Mary-Sueish. I'm working on keeping her as true to her original self as possible given the circumstances but if anyone notices that I start slipping please remind me nicely.
Some of the other characters may seem OOC, but it is all for the sake of the plot and will be gradual things, not complete personality change's overnight, people can change, and I was to express that in this story. Also, I do not own the cover for this story!
Constructive criticism is always welcome! Just remember I'm only Human and I do make mistakes.
That's enough of listening to me rant, please enjoy my story!
Title: If I Live
Author: ALightLit (Previously Remy Alvera)
Beta: -
Type: AU
Status: Incomplete - Ongoing.
Rating: T (Rating may change due to maturing characters.)
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto!
Pairing: Undecided.
Chapter Word Count: 2, 537
Updated: 2/20/2017
Intro: It took one minute, one choice, and one girl, to mess all of Orochimaru's plans up. Sakura Haruno managed to beat fear – with love. She moved in front of her crush as a last resort. However, every victory has its price.
R&R
They say when you stare into the abyss that it will stare back.
[If I Live]
Sasuke Uchiha was having a very bad day.
Or life, if one wished to be overly cynical regarding such matters. None the less, what he was not expecting was for the exams to go so bad at such an alarming rate. Of course, something would go wrong - Team 7 was a magnet for danger after all - but how could he have expected that it could get this bad. One would suppose that it didn't matter much anymore. What's done is done, after all.
The only small issue with that was that the disaster wasn't exactly done.
"You Konoha brats are a bunch of cockroaches." Sneered one of the Sound-nin.
One by one the young Ninja were falling into fighting stances, Lee landing beside Sasuke's battered form. The youths smile was near blinding as he swore to protect the Uchiha and his team with his life. Though, the very sight of the green clad boy seemed to invoke the urge to vomit for Sasuke. The fact that he hadn't eaten in two days and didn't much have the energy to perform the desired act were two of the many reasons why Sasuke ignored the urge and instead settled on a directing a death glare towards everyone who came to his aid.
"I don't need help!" The boy snarled, onyx eyes swirling with red.
He could protect his own team dammit! If he couldn't then what could he do? He was supposed to be the best, the strongest. These people couldn't just march in on his battle. Despite the logical part of him screaming that he couldn't possibly win, there was a louder voice screaming this was his fight and he could finish it!
All eyes were on the dark-haired boy as he slowly rose to his feet, weapons in each of his hands and an ugly expression marring his pale features.
If he couldn't win here, what chance did he possibly have with That Man?
Sasuke summoned chakra into the soles of his feet, legs tensing as he prepared to dart forward and end thi-
An explosion made the forest quiver.
[If I Live]
Lighting has no mercy.
The pale man smiled slowly, sharp teeth poking out past too thin lips.
He could see it now, one tempered in flame while the other held all the rage of a lightning storm. The perfect team meant to shepherd destruction and chaos at his beck and call. Each in the palm of his hands.
He could bring the world to its knees in the blink of an eye. With this much power, Orochimaru would truly be immortal.
The ground beneath his feet trembled.
[If I Live]
The air crackled and fizzed; chakra as black as coal shot upwards, tearing apart the tree as if it was nothing more than tissue paper. In the aftermath of the sudden explosion, visible chakra slowly dimmed down to nothing but quaking swirls. A shadowed form stood in the wake of the desolation, the glow of something red hot against pale skin could be seen.
The electricity in the air made everyone's hair stand on end and Sasuke - who was closest to the sudden burst of power - gave an involuntary twitch.
Out of the diminishing shadows stepped a girl with candyfloss hair, her usual emerald eyes which often shone like kaleidoscopes of color were darkening to the point they looked like an abyss, anyone who looked too closely would surely be sucked in. The strange markings gave way to a shade of inky black as they settled more than half way across her body.
"Sasuke," The air hissed as she spoke. "Who?"
The boy in question went ridged, his shoulders hunching slightly as if to play off his injuries.
"Who did this to you, Sasuke?" Sakura asked calmly, but the promise of pain was weighing in on each word.
"Sakura, what happened to you?"
The Pinkett slowly turned towards Ino, who flinched back at her best friends cold expression. This was not Sakura; Haruno Sakura was the girl who cried when someone teased her about her appearance and Sakura was the girl who ran around wearing a pretty red ribbon to hold her hair up and Sakura was the pure embodiment of love and affection and this could not possibly be the Sakura Haruno who loved too deeply and cared for others with her entire soul.
"It's giving me what I desire." Was the murmured reply. She ignored the stares she received as she turned back to her teammate.
Sakura stared down at one of her hands, palm facing the sky before nails dug into soft skin. She ignored the stares she received as she turned back to her teammate.
"Who?" Was the simple demand that followed. The Uchiha stood a little straighter as he bit his tongue.
This couldn't be her.
"I did it, I'm the one that busted up his pretty little fac-"
With a foreign burst of speed and a flash of that strange chakra, Sakura was suddenly in front of a startled Zaku. Black electricity danced across her twitching fingers as a strange grin twisted her pretty face into that of a monster.
Someone was screaming as the sound of flesh ripping echoed around the looming trees.
"Shinu," Sakura hissed, markings flaring red and shifting further across her body.
Zaku fell to the ground, a gaping hole in his chest.
[If I Live]
Anko didn't like having to host these stupid exams, and she didn't like the pit that had formed in her stomach ever since the Hokage told her she would be one of the proctors. Something just felt off about it all. It was like the shudder you felt after seeing something partially nasty or creepy; the hot-cold sensation that flashes across your entire body right before something awful happens.
Those few seconds of silence before all hell breaks loose.
Anko liked knowing what was going to happen next (but really what Ninja didn't?) and this entire test felt like a bad set up to some awful joke she wasn't in on.
It felt like a set-up.
None the less, she ignored the creeping discomfort that was sliding down her spine and coiling in her tummy for the more favorable option of heading towards the tower; she'd felt a strange prickle of chakra she hadn't thought (or hoped) she would ever be close to again, and there were two options on how to investigate.
Sometimes, Anko thought, there was no shame in being a coward.
[If I Live]
Silence reigned in the clearing now, minus the crackle of uncontrolled electricity.
Zaku convulsed on the ground, trying to breathe despite the opening in his chest cavity. Everyone else stood stunned as the black pigmented lightening danced across Sakura's body.
The girl in question had doubled over, gasping for breath, the markings on her shifting across alabaster skin as she fought to control the sudden surge of power.
Someone in the back of her head was screaming, and Sakura was more than certain that it was Inner. The screams sounded so full of pain and desperation and that it took all she had to push them into the back of her mind, shove them into the farthest corner she could find. Yet, even as Sakura straightened her back and turned impossibly cold eyes onto her next enemy, her ears still rang from the screams.
The hellscape her mind was quickly falling into did little to soothe the girl, and that's why she simply ignored the sudden whisper of a foreign voice in her ears, urging her to finish the job.
Sandles scrapped across the ground as she slowly made her way towards Kin, eyes shadowed by her bangs as Sakura moved at a placid pace, almost seeming to sway with each step. The killer intent that was seeping from the girl was enough to make everyone gag, and later Sakura would reminisce on the feral nature she had possessed in those moments.
For now, all Sakura had was the screaming and the voice that whispered for her to baptize the ground with blood.
Crimson stained fingers reached out slowly towards the petrified kunoichi. Sakura didn't even make contact with Kin, rather the strange electricity jumped off pale fingertips and slammed into her jaw, leaving a strange scorched marking in the process as Kin crumbled to the floor and flopped around like a fish out of water.
With every passing second, the screaming would get louder, and the louder the scream the louder the voice became. For a moment, Sakura was almost certain whoever the voice belonged to was standing behind her, whispering the malicious propositions directly into her ears as fridged finger gripped her shoulders like talons.
You cannot escape.
Slowly, Sakura turned towards the last member of the Sound-Nin. Her markings shifted every few seconds; if they reached the final stage she knew for sure there would be no returning. The darkness that was once a small pool at the bottom of Sakura's heart was spreading like a slow killing cancer. Soon it would consume her until there was nothing left but a shell.
End it. Kill him, kill them all. Killkillkillkillkil-
"Sakura-chan?"
The Pinkette froze mid-step, muscles tense like a snake coiled and ready to strike.
She tilted her head to the side and caught sight of startlingly bright azure eyes that stared at Sakura with such an innocent sort of affection that she could pinpoint the exact moment something inside of her snapped back into place like a rubber band. All at once the screaming and voice stopped and all that was left was a strange, hollow silence.
Naruto was sitting up on his knees beside Sasuke, who was clutching the blondes high-collared jacket with white knuckles. Both of her teammates were watching Sakura wearily as the markings recended, and when she collapsed to her knees they were both instantly there, two sets of hands hovering with uncertentily as the electricity burned into her skin before vanishing with a painful jolt.
Sakura felt numbness spread through her, starting from her fingers and her toes and move toward her heart.
Everything turned blindingly white, and the screaming started again.
Things you might want to know:
How did I get this idea? I've read a lot of fanfictions in my day, but so very few touch base on the possibility of this. The fact that something like this could have happened is so startlingly amazing I couldn't really pass it up. Some of you may not believe that Sakura could live through something like this, but I believe it all has to do with motivation.
If you have the will to survive, and if you don't fight the Curse Mark, I'm pretty sure you can live through the process.
/ / /
Why not have Anko confront Orochimaru?
Honestly, I never understood why she did the first time? I mean I get they have history, but that was beyond stupid, even if he was her teacher for a brief time in her life, what made her think she could confront someone so clearly over powered?
Anyway, If it was me I would have gone straight to the Hokage and warned him, instead of pissing away time in a very one-sided half-assed fight. So I skipped right over that, and Anko made a choice that could reflect on her in many different ways later in the story.
/ / /
Why not have Sasuke beat the Sound Nin? This is painfully simple. Before he got his little Curse Seal induced power boost, do you honestly think Sasuke could handle a fight 3 to 1 and make it out ok? These Nin were already decked out because of Orochimaru, the fight would have been so one sided it would have been more painful than an Anko/Orochi battle.
So, I dragged in the teams all at once, and no Lee did not jump in and express his undying love for Sasuke and promise to protect him with his life. Instead, the teams stumbled upon another group of Leaf Nin who were in fact 3-1 and because they didn't like those odds and because they did all grow up together, it would only make sense for them to step in.
/ / /
Why such a small chapter? Well, between revising my old stories and working on new parts for stories I felt had potential, I am working with what I have. Personally, this part was ridiculously hard to write for me, and the next few chapters will probably be just as hard, but I am working on it. I will be trying to update once a week, or maybe more. I'm working on a writing regimen.
/ / /
Question for this chapter - Favorite Naruto villains and why?
Shinu = Die
Please Read and Review! I live for reviews!
-Lalit