DO NOT OWN NARUTO...*CRIES* T_T'
Chapter 1:
From the End to the Beginning -
A Chance to Change Your Future
Sakura's POV.
"Haruno...Haruno...HARUNO!"
I woke up with a start and looked around frantically, unaware of what was happening. My hair was a mess and there was dry drool on my chin.
I focused my gaze on Iruka-sensei, who was standing in front of my desk in the back of the classroom.
"Huh? Oh hey, Iruka-sensei. What do you want?" I said tiredly. I was unaware of what was happening.
He shook his head and sighed. "Just pay attention." He walked back to the front of the classroom and stood behind the podium.
"As I was saying, tomorrow I will be announcing the teams and you will be meeting with your new squad leaders. From then-" I tuned myself out and looked out the window that I sat by.
Hm. This reminds me of the day before Team 7 was formed, I thought, still unaware of what was happening.
I smiled at the memory.
Minutes later the bell rang for lunch, and we all got up to leave the classroom.
I walked outside, my face blank and walked away from the kids and into the forest that surrounded the back of the school.
This is just a dream, I thought. A memory before I pass into the afterlife.
At least, that's what I thought.
NO POV.
Sakura walked deeper and deeper into the woods and sat down under the shade of a tree. She sighed with bliss.
She waited for a few minutes, treasuring the peaceful silence of the "afterlife". There was no war. No Ten Tails. No destruction.
It was just peace.
This was just a glimpse of a good memory before everything fell apart. That's what she thought. The afterlife was just showing her a happy, peaceful moment before she was sent to...wherever she was supposed to go in the afterlife.
A nice trip down memory lane and all but I like to go to...wherever I was supposed to go when I died, She thought.
She was startled because she hadn't expected an anwser. Her eyes widened from surprise.
Sorry, but you can't, A voice answered. It sounded like a girl.
Sakura stood up abruptly and turned her head to look behind her but saw no one. She furrowed her brow, her guard up.
"Who are you?" She said aloud."Show yourself!"
Nothing moved and the Voice spoke again.
I'm speaking from inside your mind, The Voice said. No one but you can hear me...unless I want them to.
Out of habit, Sakura crouched down and moved a hand to her thigh to grab a kunai but she felt an empty holster. She looked down at her thigh and was surprised to see no weapons on her at all.
She looked up, her brow furrowed in rage. Where are my weapons?
The Voice ignored her question.
Realizing that the Voice wasn't going to talk about anything else, Sakura straightened up and composed herself, her expression serious and hard. She was scowling.
Who are you and what do you want? She said to the Voice in her mind.
Who I am doesn't matter, and it's not what I want. It's more like what we want, She answered.
Sakura raised an eyebrow in annoyance. What are you talking about? Just send me to wherever I was supposed to go in the afterlife, She said to the Voice.
This isn't the afterlife, The Voice said, straightforward. You are living again.
Sakura's eyes widened in disbelief for a second but was replaced by sarcasm and she scoffed.
Ha ha, She said to the Voice, humorless. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah sure I'm alive, She said to the Voice sarcastically.
I'm not joking around, The Voice said in her mind, her tone serious. You are alive and back in the past.
Sakura rolled her eyes, now annoyed. Yeah and I'm from the future, right? She said to the Voice, sarcastically.
Yes. I'm serious, Sakura. I brought you back to life and put you back in the past. The Voice said.
No, I died. She said to the Voice, now serious. I'm just reliving a memory before I'm sent into the afterlife.
Sakura could have sworn she heard the Voice sigh. I'll prove to you that I brought you back to life, The Voice said, irritatedly. You can't feel pain when you're dead.
Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain on her arm and she hissed in pain, grasping a spot on her left shoulder. She took her hand away from her shoulder and looked at her hand.
There was blood.
Sakura's eyes widened and she looked down at her shoulder, shocked. There was a slight cut, not too deep but enough to get blood dripping from the wound.
No, She thought. She couldn't be alive.
I know I died, She yelled at the Voice. No one can survive getting their heart ripped out!
Well you did, The Voice said. Sakura could practically see her smirking in her mind. Because I made it happen.
No, She thought. This couldn't be happening. She knew she died. There was no way she could have survived.
But you did, The Voice said. And there's a reason why I brought you back to life and put you in the past.
Sakura gritted her teeth in anger and was about to mentally flick off the Voice when she caught something move from the corner of her eyes. Then she heard a noise and the sound of russelling leaves close by. She slowly backed away from the noise.
Something walked out from behind a bush near her and she instinctively pulled back a fist and threw it. She felt something unexpectingly warm wrap around her fist and she looked up at it in surprise. Her eyes widened and she silently gasped.
What type of sick joke is this? She thought.
Sakura could hear the smirk in the Voice again as she spoke. I told you, She said. You're living in the past.
Standing in front of her was none other than the man that broke her heart, tried to kill her, and caused her death.
12 year old Sasuke Uchiha, stood in front of her, grasping her fist in his surprisingly warm hand and his face as stoic as ever.
It was silent as Sakura stood frozen to the spot and continued to stare at Sasuke in shock. She didn't even notice that her equipment had appeared back on her a while ago. He stared back as he slowly pushed her fist away from his face to her, still holding her hand. He was wearing his forehead protecter, and it looked unnatural to see it there again.
"Oi," He said. "Watch it. You almost hit me."
Sakura blinked and realized that she'd been staring. Her disbelief immediately turned into anger. Anger for betraying not just her, but Naruto and a whole bunch of other people that cared about him. Anger for trying to destroy their home. Anger for trying to kill her master and the other Kage.
She clenched her teeth and forcefully pulled her hand from his grasp. She glared at him, which could be on par of Sasuke's. Maybe even better and scarier.
Sasuke didn't show it but he blinked, surprised. He was actually surprised that Sakura was glaring at him so coldly, harshly. As if he'd done something wrong to her. She's a fangirl. Or she was.
If only he knew.
"Don't touch me," Sakura hissed at him before walking back towards the Academy. Her hands clenched into fists and she gritted her teeth together to stop the tears that had almost spilled in front of him, the cut on her shoulder forgotten. Its blood dripped down her arm.
That bastard, She thought. He's got balls to talk to me like that after what he's done.
He watched her leave with little interest and she could feel his stare practically burning into the back of her head.
She walked faster to the Academy and minutes later the bell rang for class.
In the class...
Sakura didn't participate or talk at all during the rest of the school day.
Many kids in the class noticed this. Even kids she didn't know noticed her unusal silence.
During class, she had sat in her seat in the back of the class, head in her hand as she leaned on it and stared blankly out the window.
It actually bothered some of them, especially some certain future gennin, even if it was free time since they graduated.
To them, it was unnatural to see the normally overconfident and bubbly pink haired girl to act so...distant and cold.
So Sasuke.
This did not go unnoticed by Shikamaru. He even noticed the unusual new cut on her shoulder that'd been bandaged by the school nurse before she got into class. He noticed how deep in thought Sakura had been after she had suddenly fallen asleep during class. That too was unusual for the pink haired girl, considering she was very intelligent and paid a lot of attention during class. Even if it was unimportant. She was practically almost as smart as him. If she had never been a fangirl, she'd probaby have a higher IQ closer to his, maybe even higher.
He had pondered for a while if something had happened that might have changed her mood and personality so suddenly, but he shrugged it off.
Too troublesome, He thought. I shouldn't get myself involved in someone's personal business.
Then the last bell rang to go home.
Sakura's POV.
I took my time walking home, a blank expression on my face. I thought about Sasuke again and my eyes narrowed angrily. I gritted my teeth.
That ass, I thought, angry. I swear I'll-
Oi, are you done seething in pointless rage yet? It's been hours already.
My thoughts were interrupted by the Voice and I almost jumped out of my skin. I forgot that the Voice was here.
No shit you forgot about me, The Voice said. I'm not done with you.
NO POV. (A/N: Sorry about the sudden shift in POV. -.-')
Yeah, Sakura said. She wondered how she knew that she forgot about her but shrugged it off and asked, What did you mean earlier by 'what we want'?
The Voice ignored her question. I'll talk to you later, She said.
Sakura's eyes widened and she said aloud,"Wait!" Sakura looked around to see if anyone saw her, but the street was empty of life. She saw a tumbleweed roll by.
She sweat dropped. Why did I take this street to my apartment again?
She sighed. Looks like her questions will have to wait.
Later that night...
Sakura's POV.
I went to bed that night, hoping the Voice(I call her that) would speak to me again and answer my questions.
I laid awake in my bed, waiting for the Voice to talk to me. She hadn't spoken since earlier when I was on my way home. I stayed awake for hours, until the I could see the stars slowly starting to disappear from the sky to signify that it was almost morning. It was almost sunrise till I finally gave in to my drowsiness and let darkness engulf me into a dreamless sleep.
In Sakura's Dream...
Sakura found herself standing in...white? Everything was white. Like a sheet of white paper you stare into and it's as if it was endless.
Sakura craned her head to look around her but saw nothing in sight. Then she could feel someone staring at her and she turned back quickly to see no one.
She sighed in relief and turned to look in front. Her eyes widened in surprise and she stumbled back.
Out of nowhere, a girl about 12 or 13 with brown tinted black hair that reached past her shoulders and fell in layers, stood a few feet in front of her. She was a few inches shorter and and Sakura quickly noticed the girl had an over developed chest.
Sakura looked at the girl's chest with jealousy.
She had perfectly tanned skin and freckles that crossed over her face with plump, full lips that were set in a firm line. Her long bangs were streaked a brighter brown and were parted to the right. Sakura looked at the girl's eyes and was surprised. She had silver speckled dark brown eyes. They looked bored.
The girl wore unrecognizable civilian clothing. She had black ninja boots but other than that, everything else was unrecognizable. She wore a short black cloak with pockets and no zipper with its hood down (A/N: In Naruto, they don't have hoodies, so Sakura doens't know what it's called.) and black jean shorts. She wore no armor or ninja gear, and she didn't look like a threat.
The girl put her hands in the pockets of the short cloak and looked at Sakura lazily.
She sighed. "So I guess I might as well start with introductions. I'm the Voice. M-"
Sakura lunged at the girl with full intent to kill her and the girl who turned out to be the Voice in her head dodged to the left.
This girl just appears out of nowhere and puts this stupid crap on her. Who was she to pull all this nonsense? She could have died with no regrets-
"That's the thing," The girl yelled at her as she continued to dodge Sakura's attacks. "You died with regrets!"
Sakura suddenly froze, her fist in the air ready to swing it at her. She furrowed her brow, confused. Again with the mind reading.
She asked,"What are you talking about?"
The girl stood up from her crouched position, waiting to evade any attack that would come to her.
"The reason why I brought you back to life," She said, steadily."was so I can bring you back in time. We have something in common."
Sakura was breathing heavily and she raised an eyebrow questionably. "What?" She asked.
"We both wished for a different ending. "
Sakura's eyes widened for a moment then her fist was slowly brought down her her side. She closed her eyes and calmed herself before speaking.
"Who are you and what did you mean when you said 'what we want'?" She asked calmly.
The girl sighed in relief and sat down on the white floor, cross legged. She ignored her question."I'm the Voice, but I have a name too. For now you can call me, Mato. It's not my real name but my real one's longer and doesn't sound like it comes from the same language as yours."
Sakura stared hard at Mato. "I don't care about your name. I can call you the Voice for all I care. What I want to know is what exactly you are." She said.
Mato craned her head, confused. "What do you mean?" She asked.
Sakura's brow twitched in annoyance. "I mean what I said. How can you be inside my mind? How is all this," Sakura motioned to the white around them. "-possible?"
Mato scoffed. "That's rude." Then she sighed again. "I'd thought you'd be more polite and thankful, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised."
An irritation mark appeared on Sakura's forehead and she lunged at Mato again, but she froze in mid air. Her eyes widened, shocked.
"W-what the hell?" She said incredulously before she unfroze and landed on her stomach on the floor with an 'oof'.
Mato smirked. "As for what I am, I'm someone even greater than your God of Ninja. Greater than the Sage of Six Paths." She said with a hint of smugness.
Sakura stared up at Mato shocked for a moment. Then she turned to look away from the girl and brought a hand up to cover a snicker.
Mato frowned. "What are you laughing at? It's true."
Now Sakura was laughing. She covered her mouth to muffle her laughter. "I'm sorry," She apologized, although it didn't sound like it. She just couldn't believe that this girl, shorter and chubbier than her, was greater that the Sage of Six Paths.
"Hey! I'm not chubby!" Mato yelled suddenly. Sakura glanced at her, shocked again that she knew what she was thinking, as if she could read minds.
Mato nodded and smirked. "I can read minds." She said smuggly. "I could stop whenever I want to though." She assured as she waved her hands.
Sakura gave her an disbelieving look but shrugged it off. She realized Mato was also probably the cause of her frozen and fall. She sighed. It was obvious the strange girl-
"Hey!" Mato said indignantly.
-can read minds. More specifically, hers.
Then she remembered her question hadn't been answered. She gave Mato a look that said 'You're avoiding my question'.
Mato smiled apologetically and scratched the back of her neck self-consciously. " No, I'm not avoiding your question. I tend to get distracted easily. Sorry."
Then her expression became serious and she continued, "Like I said earlier, we both wanted a different ending. That's the reason why you're here now."
Sakura tried to remember when she did wish for that but couldn't recall a moment. Although she felt like the memory was at the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn't get it.
Mato noticed this and added,"You wished for a different ending right before you died so your memory is probably a little fuzzy."
Sakura was silent for a moment. How could all this be possible? Time travel, telepathy, telekinesis?
Sakura wondered what power did this one girl have over her.
Mato smirked again and her gaze held an evil gleam. "I'm more powerful than Kaguya." She said, a little darkly.
Sakura stared at the girl, her face blank, but inside she was a nervous wreck. She had a bad feeling in her stomach and all she wanted to do was run away, but she was frozen in place. If this girl could read her mind and say she's more powerful than Kaguya, who knows what else she could do. She had to think of something else quick.
Then she pondered why she was brought here in the first place. What was she supposed to do here?
Sakura looked at Mato curiously, ignoring her fright, and asked,"Why did you bring me back in time?"
The evil gleam disappeared from her eyes immediately as if it was never there and was replaced with clear irritation. "What do you think? So you can change their future. Your future." She emphasized the last part, exasperated.
Sakura eyes widened, surprised. She hadn't thought of that. But what could she do? She was only 12.
Mato shook her head disdainfully. She sighed."You really didn't think you could take advantage of this opportunity?" She asked as she gave an incredulous look.
"You're originally 17 with knowledge of what's going to happen in the future. I can't believe you sometimes," She added and she restrained herself from face palming.
Sakura looked away, flushing with embarrassment. Then she realized something and looked at Mato.
Sakura asked,"If you're so powerful, why don't you just-"
Mato broke in and said,"I could," She blinked and sighed. She said, cooly,"But I won't."
Sakura stared at her, shocked. She shook her head incredulously and asked,"What? If you're so powerful, you could stop the Uchiha Massacre! You could've stopped Orochimaru from giving Sasuke the Curse Mark! You-"
"I know," Mato said, interrupting her again. She gave Sakura a sadistic smirk. "But I'm not gonna," She said.
Sakura looked at her. Why would she do this? If she's so powerful, she could stop all the madness, stop Sasuke. But she just sits here, causing trouble for her.
She gritted her teeth together and yelled at Mato angrily,"Why not!? Why won't you fix all this!? You said you're more powerful than Kaguya! If you were, then you could fix this messed up world!" Then she realized something and she sneered,"Or is it that you are weak and powerless?"
Mato gave her a dark look and her voice was as cold as ice. "Look who's talking," She sneered at Sakura, smirking.
Sakura's eyes widened and she clenched her teeth before looking away. She was angry, not at Mato but at herself. She knew Mato was right.
Mato continued,"And you're wrong." Sakura glanced back at her and her eyes widened, pupils dilating. Mato's eyes became hooded and there was a strange gleam in her eyes. One that was dark and ominous.
Sakura was slightly frightened by the sudden change.
Mato said,"My power is," She smirked up at Sakura, her teeth white and perfect. Perfectly white and sharp.
"Whatever I want it to be."
Sakura stared at her. She was trembling as Mato continued to gaze at her and dark and malicious aura seemed to emit from her.
Salura could clearly feel the change of temperature in the atmosphere around them grow colder and darker, even though the white world around them continued to stay.
This girl was insane. She wants to change the future but she's practically telling her that she isn't someone to mess with and doesn't want to change the most critical things.
Sakura's eyes widened again. If she could read minds, she could still hear my thoughts, She thought, realization hitting her.
Then, as if nothing had happened, the air shifted from cold and eery to warm and happy.
Mato's dark gaze and scary scowl turned into a huge grin and her eyes crinkled happily.
"Anyway, you should get going. A couple minutes here is like several hours in the real world," She said. Then her eyes widened, remembering something. She looked up curiously and added,"Now that I think about it, it's probably almost 8 AM in the real world."
.
.
.
"NANI!?" Sakura screamed, her eyes wide. She looked around the white world they were in, looking for an exit.
She screamed shrilly again,"I'M GOING TO BE LATE!"
And with that, started her second chance to change their future.
THANK YOU FOR READING THE FIRST CHAPTER OF MY NEW STORY,
THROW-BACK THURSDAY !