Authors Note: Hello dear readers, let me start off by saying your encouragement on this has not been overlooked! In the last few months I've had to deal with health issues and job issues and potential homelessness, and so writing has been a bit outlet for me, I just haven't had the chance to update the actual chapters. That being said a lot of this story is written and planned out, it just needs corrections and then posting. Thank you so much for your continued support! That being said, please note that this story does NOT have a Beta, therefore there will be mistakes by the handful. Don't waste either of our time pointing out my painful grammar, trust me when I say I've used every form of online spell check one can whilst re-reading my chapters an almost painful amount of times. There comes a point where one has to simply say 'fuck it' and post the chapter, mistakes be damned.
Me myself: lets not take 6 months to post a chapter again, ok dickhead?
Title: If I Live
Author: ALightLit
Beta: - MIA (as in Missing In Action)
Type: AU
Status: Incomplete - Ongoing.
Rating: T (Rating may change due to maturing characters.)
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto!
Pairing: Undecided.
Word Count: 2,217
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
"Imagine cold hands up to your throat
the thought alone makes you swallow your hope."
― From The Ground, Hollywood Undead
Sakura woke up in a hospital room, the white walls near blinding as she blinked.
There was a nightmare hovering in the back of her mind, she was sure of it, but for now, it was gone. There wasn't silence though.
A static like noise could be heard reverberating in her head, bouncing around and giving her a pounding headache, she thinks someone is saying something, but it's like the radio isn't tuned quite right, and so she can't hear them.
There are flowers on her bedside table and a change of clothes in the chair beside them. That means her parents have come.
Picking up from her sensei's bad habits, Sakura tiredly pulls on the outfit that had been left - dirt brown pants and a lime green shirt with the clan symbol on the back, but no shoes, that had probably been her father then - the slim girl is one leg out the window when the door to her room slides open and in walks her sensei and the Hokage of all people.
There's an awkward beat of silence - except for that static that's quite annoying - and then the Hokage actually laughs.
"Er…" She carefully pulls her leg back into the room and blushes sheepishly. "I was just, checking the weather," Sakura said lamely, and Kakashi snorted, which he covered with a cough.
"I do hope your students haven't adopted all of your...quirks, Kakashi." Sarutobi chuckled.
"Not yet," Kakashi ran a hand through his grey hair and smiled.
"I'm sorry, but what happened?"
The two older men exchange a wary look before Kakashi steps forward to explain.
"Well, Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun were paired against each other for their round-" Sakura sputtered, eyes bulging as she took in the possibilities of how that match could have ended, but Kakashi plowed on. "Naruto forfeited, he won't be going on to the third round."
Sakura's mouth shut with an audible click.
"We sealed the cursed mark, so it shouldn't be too much of a hindrance." Her sensei paused and shifted awkwardly. "You'll be fighting Neji in the third round, Sakura."
If she had been pale before she was paler now. Neji was a top rookie and brutal child genius, she was a clanless nobody.
"I see," She said slowly, but the words tasted like ash in her mouth. "Who am I training with?"
If anything, the two men looked more uncomfortable than before.
"I'll be training Sasuke," Kakashi said slowly, and Sakura felt like she'd been punched in the chest, of course, he'd pick Sasuke, it was always either Naruto or Sasuke, never her. She just wasn't strong enough for him to bother with.
The static in her head took an ear-splitting pitch as Sakura felt resentment swarm in her chest. A wall of voices raised up and screamed in unison- weak weak weak weak wea-
"Sakura-chan, if you'd be willing I'd like to train you when possible." The Hokage spoke, cutting through the static and noise, and her hunched shoulders relaxed slowly.
"Is that even allowed?" She asked in a small voice, and the Hokage laughed.
"Not technically," He winked, "But we don't have to tell anyone, now do we?"
"Of course, I'm very busy, so training will only be when I'm available, but we have a month and other willing teachers to step in when I cannot, you're not alone Sakura." The Hokage's voice was more soothing than she thought actually possible, and so she found herself nodding along.
"Meet me tomorrow at dawn in training ground 43, you must be fully dedicated Sakura." She twitched but nodded confidently. Training ground 43 was usually reserved for ANBU, it was a tad baffling why he'd send her there of all places, but Sakura figured it'd be the most secure place for them to train.
With a nod at her and Kakashi, Sarutobi made his exit, leaving strained teacher and student standing awkwardly.
"Well...Gai has agreed to train you in your off time if you're willing, Neji is pursuing personalized training with his clan for the exams, so…" Kakashi trailed off, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"He said he'll meet you by the Kage Mount at noon tomorrow," He paused for a moment, shifted uneasily and then- "Good luck, Sakura-chan" He was gone in a swirl of leaves that littered the room.
Sakura stared at the empty spaces once filled and felt resentment flood her once more. There was a roaring in her ears and a burst of chakra shook the room, making her stumble back in surprise. She hastily jumped out the window and took the Ninja routes home.
Sakura didn't notice the small crack in the seal surrounding the Cursed mark.
[If I Live]
She rose well before dawn the following day.
Sleep seemed near impossible with the commotion in her head and so instead of getting any rest - which Sakura honestly needed - she got up and got ready for the long day ahead.
An ice cold shower to fully wake up, Sakura paused at her reflection. Pink hair jaggedly cut, too pale skin, and bruising around her eyes from lack of sleep. The girl frowned and moved on to getting dressed.
She learned the hard way her pretty pink dresses wouldn't be practical, but until she made it to the market Sakura would have to make do with whatever she could pull out of her closet.
Unfortunately for her, she didn't have many Ninja worthy clothes and so she settled on her normal spandex shorts and a dull green t-shirt she used to garden in. Sakura decided she'd make it to the store by the end of the day for sure.
Sakura wasn't picking up Kakashi's habits, she really wasn't she swears - but on the way to meet the Hokage she'd run into an old woman who was lost and needed help home.
Of course, when she tried to explain this to the old man when she'd finally arrived, he simply waved her off with a chuckle.
"Of the three of you, one was bound to follow in his footsteps." He mumbled, before fully turning towards the training grounds.
An obstacle course was smack dab in the middle of it, and Sakura felt her stomach drop to her ankles. She had been the worse at this in the Academy, and this one looked dreadful
"Every day for the next month you'll be running the full course, once without chakra and once with so I can time the difference, the goal is to get your time below ten minutes by the end of the month, we'll be working on other things as well but," He paused for a brief cough. "You'll do this every morning for three hours, with or without me here."
Sakura could already feel the sweat forming, but she popped a salute and set to work.
She couldn't afford to fail.
[If I Live]
She fell into the mud pit - twice.
Without chakra, it had taken Sakura thirty whole minutes, and with charka a whopping twenty-five. To say she felt pitiful would be an understatement. She ran the course over and over for a full three hours with her Kage yelling instructions as she went, and by the end, the sun was burning upon her neck and she was covered in mud and sweat.
"Very good Sakura-chan, if you start at your lowest always remember that the only way to go is up." He peered at her for a long moment, before holding out a small sheet of paper.
"Chakra paper, so we can know what we're working with." Sakura hesitantly took the paper. She'd read about this before, you were supposed to channel chakra into the paper.
For a searing moment, she was terrified, what if she didn't get any feedback? What if she didn't have enough chakra to do any proper jutus?
Swallowing her fear and ignoring the painful twinge in her neck, Sakura carefully sent a tendril of her chakra into the paper. The clear paper heated up and blacked before it crumbled into nothing.
She stared at it with dull eyes, before turning to gage her new sensei's reaction.
Sarutobi looked pleased, for her to have two affinities was promising, and they were ones he could work with.
"Fire and Earth, a bit of a rare combination, but I have jutsu I can impart to you. I'll have some scrolls sent to your house for later use, in the meantime.."
The sun was shining down on her, and though Sakura was exhausted, she felt maybe she had a chance.
[If I Live]
Sakura finished training with the Hokage in time to meet up with Gai who was kind enough to provide her with a bento box for lunch. He'd said something about needing food to stay youthful but Sakura was too busy stuffing her face to really pay attention.
If she'd felt confident after her previous training this training made her feel hopeless. She was as slow as a turtle and the weights he'd given her didn't help at all.
"We need to heighten your stamina Sakura!" He cheered, "Come, let us run laps around the village until we collapse!"
In the end, Sakura was the only one to collapse.
It was six when Gai suddenly vanished, a purple haired woman taking his place.
Sakura blinked slowly, her exhausted mind taking a moment to process the proctor of the second exam was standing in front of her.
"A-Anko?" Sakura's face screwed up in confusion, but before she could question her further, Anko was in front of her, a kunai to her throat and fire in her eyes.
"He can't use you if you're dead." She sneered, and Sakura knew she had to move, she had to do something, but she was frozen.
There was a bubbling feeling in her mark, it was singing to fight back, to be unleashed, but Sakura clamped down on the urge and flinched back. The kunai drew blood, and the small girl clamped a hand over her mark.
"No!" She choked out, squeezing her eyes shut. "I won't let him use me! Even if I have to use the power he's given me against him…"
Sakura's eyes shot open, and she stared up with the Will of Fire shining in her.
"I will never allow myself to needlessly be someone's pawn!"
Anko stared at her for a moment longer, and then took a step back.
"Good, then we'll do exactly that."
"W-what?" Sakura stumbled further away and clamped a hand over her bleeding neck.
"I'm going to teach you to use that curse mark, so you can kill Orochimaru."
.
.
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tsuzuku
Yes, Sakura has fire and earth affinities. why? because I am the author and can do what I want, also I get bored of her only having water and earth. Change it up peeps, there's so much to work with. Anyway. Hokage is teaching her for reasons to be shown later. Gai is just a ball of sunshine, and Anko wants revenge. Dope teachers if you ask me.
Question for this chapter: What kind of clothing style would you have if you lived in the Naruto-verse?