Chapter 5: For the One I Love
Disclaimer: All material involved in this story is owned by the respective creators of said material not me.
Inner persona
Power Ring/Demon
Having completed stage two of the Chunin exams, team 7, Naruto and Sakura would spend most of the day either; talking, keeping watch over Sasuke, or finding something in the tower to eat. While Naruto had spent some of his time training more with his power ring, Sakura had decided to keep an eye on Sasuke until her eyes got heavy that she fell asleep but as she did, her thoughts about what had happened over the past week began to take over her mind and while she still cared about Sasuke to an extent, she couldn't help but wonder how he would have turned out if Naruto hadn't removed the curse mark.
"I guess now I understand what Naruto meant by the kind of person Sasuke is." She said to herself as she sat on her bed across from Sasuke's. "I mean sure I still care about him but I guess I never understood how far he would go to obtain the power to destroy the person he's after." She concluded.
"Yeah about time you noticed you twit." Inner Sakura commented.
"Well look who's calling the kettle black, if I recall it was you who caused me to obsess over Sasuke." Sakura said to her inner self pointing the finger of blame at her, Inner Sakura just scoffed at this.
"So what's your point?" She asked.
"My point is that if you never came along then maybe I wouldn't have treated Ino like crap as a friend when she told me she had a crush on Sasuke and maybe Naruto would have some resemblance of a normal relationship with me." Sakura replied before quickly slapping her hand over her mouth causing her inner half to smirk.
"Do my ears deceive me? Did you just say you wanted a normal relationship with Naruto?" Inner Sakura asked.
"I meant as a friend and teammate." Sakura said trying to clarify on one hand but trying to cover her tracks and the blush slowly creeping on her cheeks on the other hand but her inner counterpart wasn't having any of it.
"Oh really then why did you blush just now?" She asked her outer self Sakura tried to come up with a counter argument but couldn't bring herself to say it.
"I don't know okay, I'm confused as to who I want my head keeps telling that I love Sasuke but my heart is telling me otherwise and I don't know what do." Sakura admitted to her inner self when suddenly a pinkish light penetrated her mindscape.
"Sakura Haruno of Sector 2814…" It said causing Sakura's head to jerk up.
"Who's there what do you want?" She asked waiting for the voice to answer again.
"You have great love and have felt great loss in your heart." The voice said as Sakura turned around to find that the voice had come from a chunk of crystal and the light it radiated felt warm and comforting to the young cherry blossom as she began to witness something that would further change her prespective of both her teammates forever. She now stood at a fork in a road with a sign that pointed two ways; the sign for the path on the left signified what her brain wanted while the path on the right led to what her heart desired. "What is this place?" She asked herself.
"This is the path that will decide your fate and the survival of your capacity to love." The crystal said before Sakura realized something.
"Hey wait a minute you never told me who you are." She said to the crystal now at her side.
"I am the light of the Star Sapphire Corps." The crystal said which confused Sakura.
"Wait a minute are you similar to the Blue Lantern Corps that Naruto is a part of?" She asked the crystal.
"Similar but different, where your friend wields the light of hope, the Star Sapphire Corps champions the cause of the violet light." The chunk of space rock said.
"What emotion does the Violet light represent?" Sakura asked it.
"The emotion I draw my power from is love." The crystal replied again.
Meanwhile in the physical world Naruto was in the tower kitchen looking for something to eat when his ring went off in alarm.
"Warning: Emotional Resonance located; Identified as Star Sapphire energy; approach with extreme caution." His ring warned him.
"What's a Star Sapphire anyway?" He asked his ring.
"Star Sapphire aka Violet lanterns are a Corp of former Green Lanterns that refused to forsake any emotion, the power rings of the Star Sapphire Corps are powered by the Violet light of love." The ring replied.
"How can love be in anyway dangerous?" Naruto asked it before his ring displayed a diagram of the electromagnetic spectrum showing that the violet light was the farthest away from the center on the right side of the diagram. "Oh that's how; then again as the old cliché goes sometimes love hurts." Naruto said rather bluntly, "Locate source of resonance." He told his ring before it displayed a map of the tower and where the dot was blinking got Naruto shaken to his core. "No, hang on Sakura I'm coming!" He screamed as he flew back to the room as fast as he could. Meanwhile back inside Sakura's subconscious Sakura was staring at the stone in front of her in confusion.
"What do you mean by this will decide if the love I'm capable of survives?" She asked it.
"Joining the Star Sapphire Corps is optional due to the volatile nature of the violet light being so far from the center of the spectrum, hence why one effect the ring could have on your psyche is an over possessive love that could consume you and the one your heart desires." The stone explained to her as she nodded her head and decided to see what would happen if she decided to follow her head.
An image of her future life if she married Sasuke floated before her. She imagined herself doing all the housework being a stay at home wife while Sasuke continued to be a ninja. She'd dot on their children of course, but she could see Sasuke coming home from a mission and giving her a kiss on the cheek. He'd then move to the kitchen table and ask when dinner was due to be ready. It felt so lifeless to her. Even the kiss had felt like he did it because it was expected, not because he felt anything for her. Thinking of the kids that Sasuke would almost certainly insist on she could see them being respectful and wanting their dad's attention but he'd probably focus his attention solely on making sure they were competent shinobi. Watching the family around the dinner table, Sakura Uchiha found it lacking somehow. Almost like a painting of what a family should be, but lacking the warmth. Sitting next to her husband he'd politely thank her for making dinner before eating. When he was finished, he'd show his children some Ninjutsu before retiring for the night. Giving her a polite goodnight, he'd sleep in his own bed before the day would repeat again the next day.
When she was done looking at what her head wanted Sakura started to feel the pain that had come from that day when she asked Sasuke what he thought of her as a person. "I get that I've always wanted Sasuke's love and attention but even if I did become his bride that image of the future was stale, void of any real emotion, any real love, and void of everything." She said to herself as she looked at the path on the right she decided to give it a look, when she saw what her life could be like if she fell for someone more like Naruto she saw an older Naruto and she was surprised that it showed her one that was taller than her and if this vision was anything to go by he'd grow up to be amazingly handsome. Once again her husband would come back from a mission only this time it was Naruto. She wasn't sure if she had given up being a ninja or a Star Sapphire for that matter as she was wearing a variation of what she normally wore, but she was standing in front of the sink washing some dishes. Naruto who was still a Blue Lantern as well as a ninja approached her placing a kiss on her forehead knowing she preferred it to a simple kiss on her cheek. Upon hearing their dad was home the kids would come running into the kitchen latching onto Naruto's legs. He picked up the youngest before smiling at the other two her imagination showed her she'd have them gathered around the table banging silverware on the table asking for dinner jokingly. Despite the less refined and more chaotic environment Sakura Uzumaki didn't seem to mind giving her family a smile and seemed to be much happier than her Uchiha counterpart had seemed as she placed takeout from Ichiraku on the table, somehow knowing the small ramen stand would be a mainstay in the family's dinning habit. Sitting next to her husband he gave her a kiss and had to admonish him for getting a little to fresh in front of the kids, but didn't truly mind. Digging in she watched the children eat in pretty much the same way their father did and while a little concerned it seemed her future family would have no manners found it somehow fitting. After dinner Naruto would play with the children, he'd teach them some Ninjutsu, but it would be more akin to play then actual lessons, then after the children were asleep Naruto would take her up to the bed they shared were he would…Sakura cut off the image right there not wanting to go that far into detail and wonder if she was a minor closet pervert as identified by the small trail of blood coming out of nose which ironically also came out of her nose in the real world. Meanwhile Naruto soon arrived at the door to their room changed back into his normal attire and kicked the door open. When he entered the room he noticed the pink glow on her left hand, pulled the covers off her but noticed that the violet light wasn't doing anything to harm her or even taking control of her, confused Naruto look at his ring.
"Hey ring mind telling me what's going on here?" He asked it.
"Star Sapphire selection process in effect." The ring told him.
"Okay so how does that work?" Naruto asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Star Sapphire rings choose candidates who have felt either great love or great loss in their hearts. Should the candidate choose to accept the ring, the candidate will be inducted into the Star Sapphire Corps otherwise the ring will move on to the next worthy candidate." It answered him simply.
"Wait a minute why is it that joining the Star Sapphire Corps is optional but it's not optional for the Blue Lantern Corps?" The knuckleheaded ninja asked.
"The further from the center of the emotional spectrum a light is the more volatile and dangerous it can be, those who do not possess the will power to maintain their psyches will be eventually consumed by the emotion their ring represents." The ring replied again as Naruto nodded his head understanding that to an extent.
Meanwhile back inside Sakura's mind Sakura had stepped out of the vision she saw of her future family with Naruto and several images of what was to come further down the line and if what she saw was correct, Naruto would need all the help he could get. "Have you made your decision? The stone asked. Sakura turned her head and with a determined fire in her eyes she gazed at the crystal from which she got floated in front of her and nodded her head.
"Yes I accept the responsibility of being a Star Sapphire." She said as the crystal surrounded her left hand began slowly cracking to pieces revealing a ring with a violet shine to it, and an 8 pointed star on the face sitting on her left ring finger.
"Welcome to the Star Sapphire Corps." The ring said to her as everything in Sakura's mind began to vanish.
Suddenly Sakura woke up; her dress began to change into something much different than Naruto would have guessed. She was now wearing two violet fingerless gloves, a violet battle dress with a shorter skirt flap than her usual one, pink biker/jogging shorts, and a pointed masked all while the ring sat on her left hand while the shards that had fallen off began to form a violet lantern similar to Naruto's own blue lantern and Rock Lee's green lantern. Sakura gazed at the lantern and now with a look of conviction in her eyes; she placed the ring in the lantern and spoke her oath.
"For those whose hearts are full of fright
For those alone in Blackest night
Accept our ring and join our fight
Love conquers all with violet light." She said as she descended to the floor and collapsed in Naruto's arms.
"That whole process must have taken a lot out of her, I'll talk with her about it in the morning by then all will be well." Naruto said to himself as he put Sakura back in her bed, pulled the covers over her body, then in a rather bold move for him anyway he leaned forward and placed his lips on the center of her forehead for a brief second before finally getting into his bed and falling into a peaceful slumber.
Yeah I decided to get the reveal of the Star Sapphire out of the way now rather than during training, now I'm not saying Sakura's going to use it during the preliminaries. I just wanted to do my own version of the Star Sapphire selection process is all well next time it's the prelims so until then read and review.