Flaming Heart
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!! I only wish I did.
Author's Note:As always, a big thanks for your encouraging reviews! I further apologize for any grammar mistakes. Grammar and I are not exactly on best terms, perhaps due to the fact that my native language is not English. I'll try my best to try to spot those errors and correct them … or maybe I'll get a beta reader, I was browsing for some beta readers on this site the other day, and seeing grammar mistakes on their profile thingy doesn't exactly encourage me to ask for their help (lol) Anyways!! I hope you enjoy this chapter all the same.
Once again, thanks for reading!
"They say the rain wash away all of our sorrows,"
The pink-haired girl sat up at the familiar voice.
"T-tsunade-sama?" she asked with a bewildered look stamped on her pale features.
Sakura couldn't believe it still. At first Sakura thought that she was imagining it, because, what else could happen to make her situation worse than already it is?
Sakura world had suddenly come crashing down. And her body went numb. Numb with sheer disbelief. And her ears were filled with a weird buzzing sound. The sound just won't go away. Her eyes became like stone, open wide, with tears falling freely. Her mind had temporarily stopped functioning. It was no surprise, her brain was still sagging with the weight of everything that happened to her, trying to understand why and how. And now, her mind was screaming in protest. She couldn't take it anymore.
The pink-haired girl felt as if she was drowning, as if water had claimed her lungs making her speechless. The world around her seemed dizzy, as if everything was about to disappear, as if she didn't know what was real anymore.
Sakura didn't need this. She must get out. It was not true! It couldn't be.
"T-tsunade-sama?" her voice was frail and had a hint of shock present in it.
She tried to calm down; her breathing was becoming more inexistent as the blonde-haired woman started to walk towards her. Sakura heart seemed like one thousand of drums, sounding loudly at an uncoordinated rhythm.
"Funny… you know my name yet I don't remember ever meeting you before," said Tsunade, crossing her arms over her ample bosom.
Sakura opened her mouth to say something but decided against it. She had no idea what to say. She had no idea how to exchange sentences anymore. She tried to behave normally. However, her face seemed to be made of steel, it just would not relax and change its expressions.
The pink-haired girl wanted to stand up and run, but then again she would look completely suspicious. More suspicious than she already was.
Say something! Her inner self shouted through her head.
Say what exactly? I already screwed up, thinks Sakura as she stares at the approaching blonde-haired woman.
You don't say! Inner Sakura added sarcastically, you know what you have to do... you can't keep this secret all alone, just have a good look at yourself!
Shut up! What do I say? Hey… it's so good to finally see you! Hokage-sama… I mean Tsunade-sama… is me! Sakura! You know your apprentice? Oh… you don't remember me… right. That's probably because I'm from the future.
Inner Sakura narrowed her eyes dangerously, Suit yourself…
Sakura swallowed dry as she looked up at the blonde-haired woman who stopped in front of her. Tsunade's honey eyes stared down at the pink-haired girl contemplatively.
The Sannin woman sighed and surprised the pink-haired girl with a tender smile. Sakura knew by heart all of Tsunade's smiles; there was the fake smile, which Tsunade often offered Shizune when she was forced to do paperwork. There was the sad smile she often gave Naruto when she was staring at the blond-haired boy in a thoughtful manner; there was the proud smile she often gave Sakura when she accomplished some task and then there was the soft true smile, she reserved for sake, Shizune, Naruto, Sakura and Jiraiya.
"Hmm you're a quiet one," observed Tsunade as she sat down next to Sakura. She eyed the girl from the corner of her eyes and then glanced towards the dark clouded sky. It was still raining but not as strongly as before.
"I…" Sakura could hear her own voice. It didn't sound like her at all, "I…" she turned her head towards Tsunade. Emerald met honey, "Tsunade-sama!"
Sakura threw her arms around the blonde-haired woman. Tsunade eyes widened in surprise as a loud sob sounded through the cold night. Sakura buried her head on Tsunade's shoulder as her slender body trembled with each sob.
"Everything's going to be okay…" Tsunade whispered as she carefully embraced the sobbing pink-haired girl.
Sakura let out another loud sob at Tsunade's words. Her hands tightly held onto Tsunade's sleeve.
"T-t-tsunade-sama…" Sakura whispered softly, "I never felt this… this alone…"
Tsunade did not say anything as she spotted a glimpse of a white-haired man between the trees, not too far away from them.
Sakura took a deep breathe and gently pushed herself away from Tsunade's embrace. She blushed slightly as she could only imagine how awkward it was for the blonde-haired woman right now. She was even surprised at Tsunade's serene behaviour.
"You are not alone," Tsunade said as her eyes burned into Sakura's. Much to her surprise, her words came out as honest as possible.
Tsunade stared at the pink-haired girl wonderingly. At first, when Jiraiya found her and started jabbering about a poker contest, she immediately knew that something was up. How? Jiraiya didn't try to flirt with her once. There was no goofy smile plastered on his features. Only then, when half of the bar was destroyed, Jiraiya told her what was it really about. Her immediate thoughts were that he had to be kidding her. There was no way that she would go back to Konoha to talk to a pink-haired brat that she had never heard of.
Now, an odd cold sensation ran up her spine as she found herself drowning in the girl's emerald eyes. Tsunade could read real recognition in those emerald orbs; she could sense an awkward familiarity with the girl.
"Minato-sensei… he summoned you here?" Sakura asked, sighing deeply.
Tsunade nodded slowly in response.
"I knew he was suspicious…" said Sakura as she slowly stared at the dark clouds. It had stopped raining, "He's a smart man… I would never expect anything else from the legendary Hokage,"
Tsunade arched an eyebrow at Sakura, and then she let out a small snort at the pink-haired girl choice of words.
"Legendary?" Tsunade questioned in a mocking and cheerful tone. However, Sakura took no notice of it.
"Hai. Where I come from, he's idolatrized… a hero," Tsunade pressed her lips together and stared at Sakura. This was what she was here for, to hear her story, to find out where she came from, and more importantly, why and how Sakura knew her, "I come from the Fire country, Konohagakure…"
Tsunade narrowed her eyes. As she recalled Minato's words, there was not anyone in the village, who had any memory of knowing who this girl was. Putting that part aside, Minato was not in any ways considered a hero. Sure, many respected him and many worshiped him because of his great contribution to the war but he was not a hero by any means.
"I have been born and yet I haven't…" Sakura swiftly looked at Tsunade and smiled softly at the blonde-haired Sannin puzzled features, "I know this sounds crazy… but I'm from the future,"
Tsunade blinked. Once. Twice.
"Say what?" Tsunade muttered as she leaned closer to the girl as if she hadn't heard it correctly.
Sakura sighed. She knew it was crazy, no one would ever believe her.
"Alright, I'm going to tell you the whole story. Please speak only after I'm done," Sakura asked as she stared at the blonde-haired woman waiting for a reply.
Tsunade nodded her head slowly, not sure of what else to say.
"Let's start with the demons, are you aware of those demons that are sealed in human beings?" Sakura asked, her eyes searching Tsunade's.
"Hai…" Tsunade hesitantly answered. She was now curious.
"The nine-tailed fox demon is going to attack Konoha," Sakura paused for effect. If she was going to risk it, then she wanted to see Tsunade's reaction. There was none. Tsunade features remained impassive. Sakura sudden burst of confidence diminished, "Minato-sensei will seal the beast inside a new born baby, he's going to save the village and therefore he will be acclaimed to be a hero… Konoha's hero… then when he dies the Third Hokage…" Sakura swallows dry, "Sarutobi-sama takes the Hokage place not able to entrust it to anyone else,"
Tsunade eyes widened slightly at the pink-haired girl story. Was she mad?
"The Kyuubi container… he… he becomes my best-friend… Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura pauses and takes a deep breathe, she was starting to stutter, "Kakashi is our s-s-sensei… there is this organization t-t-that is after the bijuu's powers and they came for Naruto… he… he… couldn't control it… it exploded and the kyuubi's chakra… it brought me here,"
"Sakura…" Tsunade said as she eyed the poor girl that commenced to sob again, "What you just said… it doesn't make any sense,"
Sakura eyed the blonde-haired woman pleadingly. Tsunade sighed heavily and looked towards the trees. She glared at the white-haired man that was now leaning against one of the trees not bothering to hide his whereabouts.
"Sakura… why don't you tell me the truth this time," said Tsunade, her honey eyes hardened slightly.
Sakura knew that Tsunade was probably losing her patience but so was she, "But what I just said it's the true! It's the whole true!"
Tsunade eyed the pink-haired girl with pity. She now understood. The girl was mad. It was not her fault… she probably thought that she was not lying because she believed in her own lies.
Sakura stood up, her trembling knees shocking against each other. She looked down at the blonde-haired woman with fire burning in her green orbs.
"Then explain this!" Sakura voice came out too loud, "How do I know about you huh? How Orochimaru and Jiraiya-sama were part of your team?"
"Everyone knows about that," said Tsunade as she arched an eyebrow.
Sakura nodded fiercely, "He left… and he became someone else… he became a monster! He experiments on people and it's his fault that Sasuke-kun left!" Sakura paused, gasping as Tsunade smacked her across the face.
"You have no right…" said Tsunade, her honey eyes stared in surprise at how much the pink-haired girl knew. It was supposed to be a secret. Only a very few people knew about this. Who was this girl? Was she a spy? Did Orochimaru send her to play with them?
Sakura could feel the blood drip from her lip down to her chin. She ignored it and stared at the blonde-haired woman with no remorse.
"You become the fifth Hokage after Orochimaru kills Sarutobi-sama," Sakura whispers.
"Stop it… Stop it! That's not true!" Tsunade brought a hand to her mouth, clearly aghast with the pink-haired girl words, "You're lying…"
She had to be lying… she had to be lying… why was even she contemplating the fact that this girl could be speaking the truth? This was ridiculous. Soft sobs disturbed Tsunade's thoughts.
"It's the truth… I… I w-wouldn't lie… I wouldn't…" Sakura fell on her knees and hid her face between her hands suppressing her loud sobs.
Tsunade didn't know what led her to do it. Before she knew it, she was kneeling in front of the weeping girl, her own arms trembling as she pulled Sakura to a tight embrace.
Sakura sobs became louder and echoed through the empty streets of Konoha.
Tsunade looked upwards and eyed the white-haired man who was standing behind Sakura.
"No one can know about this…" said Jiraiya as he stared at Tsunade's teary eyes, "not even Minato…"
Tsunade nodded slowly… Jiraiya believed the girl… what about her? Did she believe her? Did she want to believe her?
Sakura carried on crying not taking any importance on the new familiar voice. Sakura felt warm, she felt safe now that her secret was out. She felt almost home as she cried on Tsunade's arms.
"I can't believe you became the fifth Hokage though," said Jiraiya earning a louder sob from Sakura.
He believed her.
Tsunade chuckled lightly, "Neither do I…"
They believed her.
Both Jiraiya and Tsunade stepped inside the office and traded tired looks as they stared at the sleeping Hokage. Minato was deep asleep, his head buried beneath his paperwork.
Tsunade leaned against the wall and sighed deeply as Jiraiya hurried to the blond-haired man side. Jiraiya bent down to Minato's ear level, his eyes glanced over an amused Tsunade.
"WAKE UP HOKAGE!"
Minato practically jumped off his seat, a paper glued to his forehead. He stared first at Jiraiya and then towards the blonde-haired woman who had a small frown visible in her features.
"Well? What happened?" Minato asked immediately, disregarding Jiraiya's childish attitude.
"What happened?" Tsunade asked back, her eyebrows furrowed angrily. Minato stepped back and pushed the paper on his forehead away, "I'll tell you what happened! You made me come all this way to talk with a loud-mouthed pink-haired brat that claims to be my favourite number one fan! That's what happened!"
Jiraiya discreetly gave her the thumbs ups, earning a glare from the blonde-haired woman. She couldn't believe she was actually playing along with his plan.
"Oh? I don't understand…" Minato frowned ignoring Tsunade's glare, "she's better at lying than I thought,"
Tsunade snorted, "Lying or not, you just made me waste my time here," Tsunade pouted, "You owe me big time,"
Minato gulped not liking one bit where this conversation was going to, "What? That was not the deal," he said as he eyed the angry Sannin.
Jiraiya placed a hand on his ex-student shoulder, "You better do what she's saying," he whispered.
Minato sighed in defeat, "Sake?" he said as he grabbed his coat.
"Do you even need to ask?" Tsunade replied as she opened the door and was the first to step out the door.
Tsunade was in a real need of Sake. She hoped that some place was still open; otherwise, she would kick the door down and steal some bottles.
When she desperately needed sake, there was no time to think through things. Especially now.
She had just met her apprentice from the future.
Yep, she did need Sake.
Rin sat in her kitchen, staring out of a window, a cup of tea cooling in front of her. Something was bothering her, and now that her little brothers had left to the academy, she had a free moment to think without anyone disturbing her. She disliked thinking when she could be interrupted. Now, she had ample time.
She had heard the noise last night; it came from Sakura's room. It was not her intention to pry; she was merely worried with the pink-haired girl. She had peeked through the door and she was horrified to find Jiraiya-sama in Sakura's room. He was carrying her in his arms and was placing her in the bed.
Rin had absolutely no idea what to think of it. She knew that Jiraiya-sama was a pervert old man who was always in trouble with women. There was not a single day where Minato-sensei would save his ex-sensei from trouble.
Suddenly a loud knock on the door startled her. She took a quick sip from her tea and placed it down before she ran down the corridor towards the door.
"Kakashi-kun!" her brown eyes widened at the sight of the silver-haired nin.
"Rin," he greeted her, "Where's Sakura?"
"Oh… eh…" Rin waved her hand in a clumsy and embarrassed way. A slight blush took over her cheeks as she remembered last night. Kakashi raised a curious eyebrow, "Ehh… Sakura-chan is still asleep,"
"Still asleep?" Kakashi asked. Rin nodded in response, "Why?"
"Ehhhh?" Rin smiled softly, "She… didn't sleep much last night," Rin added as she pushed a lock of her hair away from her eyes.
Kakashi eyed Rin suspiciously, "Why the hell are you blushing?" he asked and Rin's blush deepened.
"I? What?" Rin asked as Kakashi gently pushed her to the side. Rin eyes widened as Kakashi walked down the corridor, "Kakashi-kun! Wait!" Rin closed the door behind her and ran to catch up with the copy-nin.
Kakashi stopped in the middle of the corridor, causing Rin to bump against his back.
"Ow!" Rin exclaimed as she rubbed her nose.
"Which is it?" asked Kakashi.
"Uh… Kakashi-kun… she's really tired and she-"
"Which one is it?" Kakashi repeated ignoring Rin.
"The one at the left," Rin sighed and watched Kakashi hands traveling to the door's knob. Her eyes widened at his lack of manners. He was not even knocking first.
Kakashi smirked underneath his mask as he wrenched the door open. His eye widened as he looked at the full dressed pink-haired girl who was sitting by the window simply gazing outside. He had been waiting for an opportunity to scold her.
He preferred an arguing Sakura to a silent one. He enjoyed her fierce attitude, the way her emerald eyes shone with determination whenever she got angry. The way her lips pouted, and her hands closed into fists.
That day at the hospital, he had been somewhat disturbed by her distress manner. The emptiness within her emerald eyes reminded him the same blankness Rin's eyes carried when Obito had died. It had taken him and Minato-sensei a lot to bring the brunette girl back to the way she used to be and he did not want to go through it all again.
"Sakura-chan!" said Rin surprised to see Sakura awake.
Sakura turned around and forced a smile on her tired features.
Kakashi eye analyzed the pink-haired girl. She was a mess. She had purple rings around her eyes and looked livid as if she had seen a ghost.
There was another loud knock on the door. Both Sakura and Kakashi eyed Rin.
"I… I'll go check who is at the door," said Rin as she excused herself and ran towards the main door.
"What the hell happened to you?" Kakashi asked as he stepped inside Sakura's room.
Sakura seemed slightly taken back with his demanding yet caring tone of voice, "I… didn't slept much,"
Kakashi walked towards the window and placed himself at the pink-haired kunoichi side, "Well… we have training today, remember?"
"Oh…" Sakura mumbled softly, "Hai. I remember…"
The silver-haired boy sighed and narrowed his uncovered eye, "But?"
"I'm afraid Sakura has some important matters to attend to,"
Sakura gazed behind Kakashi and smiled. Kakashi turned around to meet the owner of the familiar voice.
"Tsunade-sama," he greeted her politely. He eyed the blonde-haired woman and watched as Sakura walked towards Tsunade. Rin was standing behind the blonde Sannin, looking as surprised as he was. Only, he did not show it.
"Kakashi," Tsunade smirked at the silver-haired boy, "I'm sorry for stealing Sakura away,"
"Hn," Kakashi nodded and then his gaze fell on the pink-haired girl, "I see you later then?"
Sakura seemed highly surprised with Kakashi's question. Tsunade arched a curious eyebrow and Rin jaw had dropped slightly.
"To train of course!" Kakashi added quickly as he noticed the females' expressions. A slight blush would have been seen in his cheeks but luckily, for him, his mask covered it up.
Tsunade snorted as Sakura nodded and smiled at the silver-haired boy. Rin silently chuckled at Kakashi's hurried tone of voice.
Sakura waved good-bye as Tsunade and she walked away from the house. Kakashi and Rin stood in Sakura's room window watching their retreating backs.
"Strange…" Kakashi murmured.
Rin looked up at Kakashi, her brown eyes filled with curiosity.
"What's strange, Kakashi-kun?" she questioned.
"The two of them," Kakashi started, his eye was still on the pink-haired girl, "They looked as if they…" he paused trying to find the right words.
"You noticed it too, ne?" Rin asked with a small smile on her face.
Kakashi nodded, "They looked as if they…" he repeated still trying to find the adjusting words.
"As if they shared a secret," Rin finished in a soft voice, causing Kakashi to turn towards her.
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Kakashi smirked at Sakura. "Well Sakura, it was nice knowing you,"
"What do you mean Kakashi?" Sakura asked mockingly. "You are the one that is going to greet the floor, not me!"
Kenjiro scoffed while Kenji rolled his eyes. Rin, however, smiled at both of them.
"Kakashi-kun, you still don't know what Sakura-chan is capable of," said Rin as she sat down between her brothers.
"I don't know Rin. I don't think she has what it takes to take me down."
Sakura raised an eyebrow and leaned forward slightly into his personal space. "Is that so, Mr. Hatake? Well, I'll just have to prove you wrong, ne?"
Tsunade laughed. "Well, this is going to be interesting to watch," then she stared at Jiraiya who had his arms crossed around his chest, "What do you think? Want… to bet on which of the two lovebird's will win?"
Jiraiya gave the blonde-haired woman a wide grin and before she could blink, he was standing next to her, an arm around her shoulders, "That's the spirit! I'll have to bet on Kakashi," Jiraiya turned his head to Kakashi, "Oi boy! Don't let me down!"
A/N: Here's the chapter. I'm still pondering whether I'm going or not to re-write it. I hope it was any good. I'm sorry it was short. I only wanted to focus on Tsunade and Sakura in this one.
Btw...I'm ill and stuck at home and already working on the next chapter. It's going to be the longest chapter I ever wrote. So I hope you stick with me and enjoyed this one. Please Review!