hello everyone, just checking in! how are you all?

thanks so much for the people who has been following burden to carry and it's so great seeing the traffic how many views it has and all! this makes me excited! I've opened up the reviews where anonymous can now send me a review/message which is pretty nice.

i'm also up for advise, direction, question, or simply to talk also!

i apologize for having the last chapter pretty short. my shortest one was one of the story in the prologue. but this one will be around 1k - 2k at least. but some of my chapters were 3k to 4k words which i think its alright but long. so i'll be breaking it up a little shorter so you guys wont be reading it for too long, since it gets people sleepy (i know cuz i read a lot LOL).

anyways, thank you again and i hope you guys are still enjoying this story :)

xoxo, yourstrulyhime

characters so far:

god of darkness - sasuke

goddess of light and life - sakura

god of sun - naruto

goddess of earth - tsunade

god of sky - jiraiya

god of death - neji

goddess of mindreading - ino

moon goddess - hinata

vengeance goddess - karin

illusion and suffering god - itachi

dragon/serpent god - orochimaru

shadow god - shikamaru

medical goddess - shizune

desert god - gaara

discord god - zetsu

sasuke gave sakura a little bit of his time before he goes back tending the dead and judging them. he lead her to the back of the garden where there was a lake that was reflecting the night sky that he based off above ground. he told her that it mimics the skies above. when it's raining, it will rain here also. but the day and time differs. if it's morning above ground, it is night time here. hence the departure of the sun god and the moon goddess everyday.

sakura hugged the yukata around her body even more as she could feel the coldness of the underworld. they weren't joking how it was cold underneath the earth. sasuke on the other hand, sat down on the bench and just looked ahead without saying anything to her. she sat down next to him and just watched the lake and the fish swimming near the banks.

'is your name written up above with the stars, milord?'

'yes, see there? that's where i am.'

'ah, that's wonderful! i'll look up that spot whenever i miss you and when i'm thinking of you.'

he's remembering things again from the past. it's been centuries since she's gone but he's still remembers her as if she just died yesterday. he really need to get his shit together before he lose it. he looked at sakura who was sitting next to him and she was just looking ahead and admiring the sight. before he could even talk to her, tenten came up behind them.

"the sky god requests for your time." when the witchcraft goddess interrupted them, sakura stood up from the bench and panic was now written on her face. sasuke wrapped his mist on sakura's figure and told her to be quiet and dont say a word as the mist will hide her presence.

"send him here." tenten nodded at him and quickly brought the sky god to where they were.

the mist now laid flat on the ground just hovering around the area. he could still feel her presence, you can say she's like on another dimension.

"eldest one, i thank you for giving me time to talk to you." the sky god has two gods with him, the desert god and the discord god.

"what do you need." he didnt faced them as he continued looking at the lake as he was feeding the fish this time. the sky god on the other hand was getting irritated each second had passed just by looking at the eldest one. he knows that if he did something wrong, he can easily be disposed of as sasuke is the right hand of the creator and his equal part. nonetheless, this is his realm. the underworld is giving him powers even more than the skies are giving him.

"my daughter. i'm looking for my daughter. i heard some rumours that she's here taking refuge."

"you mean, tsunade's daughter?"

"don't play with me, sasuke. tell me where she is right now."

sasuke looked back behind him and told him that he hasn't seen her since he went above ground to get some tea from tsunade. jiraiya on the other hand pulled sasuke up and looked at him with menacing eyes as if he wants to kill him if he didnt give what he wanted.

"i know she's here. i felt your presence during that night when she ran away from the sky palace. bring her out. right now."

"when she ran away from the sky palace huh. like how miyuki ran away from you also that night?"

sasuke just looked at him with unemotional stare as his mist starts to form on jiraiya's arms.

"let go, youngest one."

"NO! NOT UNTIL YOU TELL ME WHERE MY DAUGHTER IS!"

the shouting from the sky god scared sakura as she almost let out a noise from it.

"your daughter is not here." sasuke slapped jiraiya's hands off from him and fixed his yukata. "and i will not fall for the same mistake as last time on what you did to me and miyuki."

the sky god himself laughed. "you're still hung up on that miyuki woman aren't you? she's been dead for many centuries. and here you are, still trying to hold on to her."

the sky god then raised his weapon against the eldest god and started yelling again.

"BUT IF I FOUND OUT THAT SAKURA IS HERE, I WILL KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU HERE AND TSUNADE!" jiraiya was about to attack sasuke but he used his eye powers to stop him on his tracks and made him paralyzed.

"you dare defy me? especially in my realm? don't push me." he used his eye powers to push him back a few feet away from him and jiraiya landed on his back on the wall of a column pillar.

the two gods who accompanied him followed and helped him up but he just refused and got even more pissed. they both stared at each other until jiraiya turned around and left. when he felt the 3 of them were above ground, he let sakura out from his mist and she was just standing there looking at the lake.

"i don't want to be near him..." she whispered.

"you will never be." sasuke clenched his fists until he could his nails were cutting through his skin.

"i'm scared for my mother and lady shizune..." she hugged the yukata to her body even more and clenching the hem of it.

"your mother is one of the most powerful goddess." sasuke reassured.

"...what if something happened to them..." she now started sobbing. sasuke turned around to look at her. he wants to go over there and comfort her. just reach out to her and put his hand on her head and soothe her worries away... but he's stopping himself from the temptations.

"it's all my fault... i should have stayed up there and let them have it their way so mother and lady shizune wont be harmed..." if sasuke can't touch her then she will let her mist, anri, comfort her. the female mist swirled around sakura and wrapped herself around her giving her the reassurance she needed. the comfort she needed. and the protection she needed.

'milord... i'm scared of the sky god...'

'he created me to be with you because i wished for it!'

'forgive me, milord... but i must kill you to be immortal.'

'treason or not, i will follow the sky god's commands.'

that night, sakura was having trouble sleeping. sasuke's mist led her to her room and stayed with her until she fell asleep. but few hours later, she noticed that the mist was gone and that's when her panic starts to consume her. past memories that doesn't belong to her started to plague her.

the screams. 'no get away from me!'

the pleading. 'eldest one... please help me!'

being hurt and tortured. 'no, i dont deserve this, let go of me!'

abused. 'i created you, you belong to me, miyuki.'

sakura can't stand it. she put on the blue yukata that sasuke gave her and she went out of her room and decided to walk around the palace.

she doesnt know where she was going, but she saw the moon goddess and the sun god talking to each other in the garden. she watched them silently from a far until she saw them kissing and being all lovey dovey. she blushed and she remembered her dreams when she was up above grounds. her dreams with the eldest one. she shook her head and walked away.

she kept on walking aimlessly, recognizing some of the maids, demons, spirits, gods, and goddesses. they all bowed to her and she reciprocated them also. one shadow maid even offered her if she needs to be accompanied but sakura softly declined her.

she kept cutting corners. turning left. turning right. it's like a maze and they're not joking. how do they even get used to this and know where they're going? but finally she saw the shadow god and the dragon god talking with papers on their hands. the war god was talking to the mischief god while sharpening his giant axe. the witchcraft goddess, mindreader goddess, and the vengeance goddess were all talking to each other and giggling.

she walked past all of them until she saw the illusion god and the god of the death talking outside of a big giant black sliding door. they both noticed her and stopped what they were talking.

"lady sakura. it is late at night, you shouldn't be wandering around the palace at this time unaccompanied" said the god of death.

"i'm sorry, i couldnt sleep so im walking around to tire me out." she said sheepishly while wrapping the yukata to her body more. talking to another gender still makes her queasy but she kept reminding herself that the gods here are trustworthy and not like her father.

"shall i accompany you?" she turned her gaze to the illusion god and was shocked to see how his facial features closely resembles sasuke's.

"you and the eldest one look so much alike..." she slowly got closer to him to take a better look. when she was close to him, his eyes powers were activated and showed her the rinnegan.

"the eldest one... created me when he awakened his eyes powers during the war. it became the turning point at that time."

the war.

eye powers.

'the rinnegan is what i'm trying to achieve to get, miyuki. so i could protect you and everyone.'

"you must be... the illusion god."

"yes."

"then... you must have awaken when the eldest one achieved the rinnegan?"

it took the two gods by surprised knowing that fact. no one knows that fact except for the eldest one, dragon god, death god, and the illusion god himself. the two gods took a step away from her as as sakura took them by surprise. sakura noticed their behaviour and before she could even ask if something was wrong, she noticed that the eldest one's mist was looking at them.

before she could ask them if they're ok, the mist came towards them and wrapped herself around her.

"the eldest one noticed your energy, thats' why she's here." the god of the death said.

"he's probably wondering why you're still awake at this time." the mist started leading sakura inside the door as the illusion god slide open the door.

sakura looked back at them and they both bowed to her and continued with what they were talking earlier with scrolls now on their hands. in their minds, they're still baffled how sakura came to know about the creation of itachi and how the rinnegan was awaken. they pushed the thought aside and decided to talk about other matters.

by the time sakura looked forward, the eldest one was sitting in the middle of the room in a big chair with the other sliding doors open to let the night air in. the mist gracefully placed her in front of sasuke and swirled around them until she wrapped herself to sasuke's arm like a dragon.

"walking around my premises unaccompanied is prohibited." sasuke breathe out with his eyes closed.

sakura didnt's say anything and just blushed.

"you are a guest. you should always be accompanied by someone. why didnt a spirit come with you?" she looked up at him and she told him that she wanted to be alone.

"the underworld is alive. it can play tricks on your mind. im surprised you made it here... unaccompanied." he sighed and stood up from his chair. he took off his throne room robes and hung them on the throne chair.

"were you... judging the dead?" she asked.

"yes, i was. but since it's midnight, i need to retire." when he turned around, he was just wearing a black shirt and black lounge pants. the blackness of the clothing contrasted his skin as it was almost very pale white, evidence of lacking the sun's rays.

"let me guide you back to your room. it is late at night." he walked in front of her and she followed him while trotting behind him a few steps behind.

the walk to her room was took them quite a while since the throne room was a little further away from the mess hall. but when they reached her room, sasuke put a couple of logs in the fire pit while sakura laid on her bed with the yukata still wrapped around her body.

he sat down next to her while his mist was swirling around them before settling around sakura to give her more warmth and comfort which quickly put her in a drowsy state.

he noticed that his heartbeat was beating quiet faster than usual the more he looked at sakura. he noticed each unique features she has: how her eyebrows are long, how her skin is flawless, and her forehead a little bigger than normal. but when she looked at his face, she noticed that he is well composed showing no emotions whatsoever. she reached out one of her hand to his and wrapped her right hand around his and softly humming to herself with her eyes closed.

by this time, sasuke's heart beat was beating even faster than before and he looked at her as if the melody reminded him of his distant memories. memories that he doesn't want to remember. he didnt even realized that his grip on her hand was getting tighter the more she hummed.

"where did you hear that melody?" he asked.

"i... dont know... i just knew it. i never heard of it before... i felt like i knew it from somewhere... it's been humming in my mind since i met you." she started humming again and this time sasuke just wants to run away. away from her.

'shall i hum you something while you sleep, milord?'

he noticed that she stopped, he looked down and she was staring off the distance with tears flowing through her eyes.

"why did you stopped?" he asked.

"i... forgot how it goes after that..." she closed her eyes and let go of his hand.

sasuke on the other hand, took his hand back and he could still feel her warmth and how small her hand was compared to his. without hesitation, he hummed the rest of the song. to sakura's surprise, she asked him how did he know about it.

"someone used to hum it to me all the time."

he was getting too closer to her. he really is getting too pathetic and giving up to the temptations of wanting to be near her all the time. is it because sakura has miyuki's memories? or is it because it's sakura herself? he felt like throwing up and just wanting to be away from her.

he can't fall for the same mistake again.

sakura is the sky god's daughter. he must be careful around her.

the word trust is out of his world. hard to obtain. and hard to have. not after what had happened to him in the past.

when he finished humming, she was beginning to sleep. he softly got up from her bed, leaving his mist with sakura the whole night so she wont panic like she did last night of being alone.