disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

tea leaves ii: When Sakura is given a choice between Heaven, Hell, or Afterlife, she chooses to be a Shinigami. It takes her a year to realize why.

ii. rules of death

A frail girl of only seventeen woke up to a never-ending, blank space of white. It took her several minutes – though time did not exist here – until she snapped out from her daze.

"Where am I?" She questioned no one in particular. Ahead, a small dark figure was approaching her.

"Who…" The girl started, but upon seeing the black cloak draped around the figure, she guessed,
"… Shinigami?"

The mysterious figure nodded once then croaked, "Heaven, Hell, or the Afterlife."

The pink-haired girl frowned. Did it want her to answer? And… did all this mean that she had died? But she could not remember her life on Earth – all and any memories she had before she was killed…

"Haruno Sakura," The low voice of the figure broke the silence again. "You are granted the choice to choose."

'What, between Heaven, Hell, and the Afterlife?' Sakura thought, and then giggled, 'I should obviously choose Heaven!'

But when she opened her mouth to speak, a sudden wave of hesitation washed over her. What then came out of her mouth was, "Can I choose to be a Shinigami?"

The figure remained still, but it was obviously surprised. After a momentary pause, it warned, "It may be worse than Hell."

Still, the foolish girl persisted on, "Am I allowed to, though?"

The Shinigami before her warned once more, "You will witness and guide thousands and thousands of deaths."

A haze memory tapped into the back of Sakura's mind. Whatever her price was, she felt sudden determination to take on this role, though she had no idea why at the moment.

. . .

"Takera Manabu." Beneath a black, imposing cloak, Shinigami Sakura spoke in a low voice. "Hell."

Hell. That was the only choice the young man before her had. It said so in the Death Book, a copy of which Sakura had to carry.

The black hood of her cloak hid half of her vision, and when she lifted it up the slightest bit, she was rendered speechless. Before her stood the soul she was to guide, but his appearance was horrifying. His head was nearly severed, both his eye sockets flowed with blood, and numerous cuts and bruises decorated his upper torso.

The pink-haired Shinigami hurriedly pulled down her cloak and walked forward. "Follow me." She spoke calmly, though every inch of her body felt stiff and paralyzed with shock and fear.

When she had finished guiding the dead man's soul to Hell, she was sent to guide another right away.

'Worse than Hell… perhaps it's true.' Sakura thought bitterly, now overwhelmed by the consequences of her role; as a Shinigami, she was eternally bound to Death itself. But indelible images of dead people would remerge repeatedly for more than a year until Sakura would finally realize why she had taken this role in the first place.

. . .

One year, two months, thirteen days later.

A pale, young man woke up, surrounded by white, empty space. When he looked up, he saw a figure clad in black.

The figure stopped noticeably at once upon seeing Sasuke, then approaching him cautiously, its hands slowly reached for its hood. In an entranced move, the figure gently lifted the hood, and the dead man came face to face with a girl he once knew very well.

"I told you; you can't run from me, Sasuke." The pink-haired Shinigami spoke teasingly.

"You're crazy, Sakura." Before the dead Uchiha could question her, she erupted into a fit of soft giggles.

"I'm a Shinigami, you see." She said, with a smile.

'So I am dead, after all,' Sasuke thought, and looked down to inspect his bloody body. There were cuts and bruises and – was that his right arm missing? Unwillingly, he trembled once, as he brought his left hand to feel his Sharingan eyes. He felt only empty space, save for lumps of fresh, flowing blood.

Sasuke was slightly shaking now, but he looked up at the Shinigami accusingly. "You're not Sakura – you're just a lying Shinigami, heh. Sakura would have already broken down by now upon seeing such… injuries."

The pink-haired Shinigami smiled on. Suddenly, Sasuke grew very tired of it all; at this point, he didn't care if the Shinigami was just an illusion or really Sakura. In defeat, he decided to believe the latter. "You must have seen a lot of dead bodies, then."

"You bet!" Her smile widened, but behind her façade was a tortured soul.

Then slowly, almost reluctantly, Sakura reached for the Death Book, and searched for the name of the man before her. She knew it already, but seeing it written down made her heart sink.

Hell. That was the only choice Sasuke had.

What came out of her mouth, though, was "Uchiha Sasuke. Afterlife. That is your choice."

And then, Sakura rushed him to the entrance that led souls back to Earth. Before pushing him forward, she whispered, "I hope you a happy life this time, Sasuke."

'And not one full of revenge,' she thought. Hot tears were streaming down her face now. Shinigamis weren't supposed to cry.

Before Sasuke could react, his body submerged to below, where Earth was waiting for him.

Meanwhile, Sakura felt excruciating pain shoot throughout her body.

"You went against the rules." An imposing voice spoke to her somewhere in her mind.

'Yes, and now, I've lost my chance to give up my Shinigami role to go to Heaven, and I've lost my second chance at Earth…' Sakura was ready to face whatever consequences that came her way, and she felt no regrets. As if on cue, her soul started to deteriorate – to be forever exterminated from all worlds of soul and life, she guessed.

Before the last of her soul disappeared away, Sakura realized that Sasuke had recognized her.

Souls of dead bodies had their memories erased – that was the rule – yet he had remembered her.

Little did she know that she, too, was given second chance at life on Earth. Her soul disappeared, but she would be reborn, like Sasuke, and perhaps this time, their love would be fulfilled…

notes: another random idea as usual... Thank you for the review!