L I F E
Summary: Uchiha Madara had won. The few surviving members of the Ninja Alliance had been annihilated. In order to save countless of lives and restore balance in the world, a dying Sakura was sent back in time by an utterly unexpected individual. Time Travel.
…L…
Sakura continued to scream.
At first, she screamed out of shock and horror at the gigantic face looming down on her. But, as her mind caught up to her and processed the current situation, a new emotion suffocated her.
..
Disbelief
..
Pain
..
Suffering
..
Despair
..
These unforgiving emotions, among many others, raged inside her at the predicament that she found herself in. It threatened to consume her whole, dragging her into the dark abyss of insanity.
She could never forget that face. No, she would never forget that face.
…
…
Unseeing eyes blankly gazed ahead.
Her hands trembled, the dark stain of blood that covered them had been washed away by the torrid rain that pelted at her broken form.
'No!'
She screamed herself hoarse, unable to accept, unable to even comprehend the tortuous event. She was still wrapped in her throes of denial.
The dark skies joined the distraught woman in her agony, as it continued to rain all throughout the night.
…
…
Sharp claws of pure agony ripped her already fragile mind apart.
..
Was she in Hell?
..
If there was a hell in this world, then she concluded that this was it.
She was living in her own personal nightmare.
And so she screamed.
She screamed with all her might, pouring out all her suffering at the unfairness of this world.
There was no other explanation. No rational explanation, as she was subjected to this cruel punishment.
..
… Mother.
..
…L…
Mebuki was beginning to worry.
Her daughter continued to wail, as if she was in pain, judging from the contorted expression on that tiny face.
Admittedly, and yes, embarrassingly, she was a little shocked a while ago. She couldn't contain the scream that suddenly escaped her throat, and before she knew it, her first bonding with her daughter was via a Screaming Fest.
She was unorthodox that way.
And maybe, her child was unorthodox too.
As they say, unorthodox is just a complex version of weird.
Mebuki shook these strange thoughts away as she focused on her daughter.
"What's wrong with her?" Kizashi asked, worriedly looking down at their daughter.
Sakura's face was scrunched up as she wailed aloud, her tiny face was flushed from the effort that she exerted. Even then, Mebuki could remember what triggered all of this.
Those eyes.
She couldn't contain the shiver that ran down her spine.
She had never seen eyes like those before.
Instead of the emerald eyes that they were expecting, they were subjected to an eerie, yet somewhat captivating, violet-colored eyes that dominated the entirety of her daughter's eyeballs, yes, eyeballs. Not just the iris.
There's also those strange, wave-like lines that was seemingly engraved in her baby's eyes.
So, one couldn't really blame her for triggering what she now dubbed as their Mother-Daughter Screaming Fest '98.
..
To her defense, who wouldn't be shocked to see that?
..
"Mebuki!"
She was shaken out of her daze at her husband's worried outburst.
Oh dear, it seemed that she was lost in thought for quite awhile. That seemed to be happening a lot quite recently.
Mebuki securely readjusted Sakura and tried to calm her still wailing baby.
"Shh, Sakura-chan, it's alright, Kaachan's here."
Mebuki could see that Kizashi was getting slightly agitated, his worry was reaching new heights as Sakura continued to thrash about. He gently patted his daughter's body as it continued to squirm in discomfort. As much as he wanted to calm Sakura down, he just plain didn't know what to do. He never felt as useless as he did as of that moment.
At the corner of her eyes, she noticed that the medics assigned to her care was approaching her. To check on Sakura, no doubt.
However, it seemed that Sakura noticed it too.
Her daughter wailed in what seemed to be in a renewed vigor. Though, unlike before, her scream was piercing.
It sent shivers down their spine.
Suddenly, the atmosphere around them seemed to be weighing them down. And in a split second a strong wind suddenly whirled around the room. It's odd since they were in a closed room.
The tightly shut windows rattled violently, it's panes on the verge of breaking.
The various medical equipment around them suddenly malfunctioned and continued to beep and flash in error.
The lights continued to flicker in and out.
"What the-" one of the medics let out, utterly confused.
BOOM!
Then, pandemonium let loose.
…L…
Pain.
That was the first sensation that he felt as he gradually regained consciousness.
His hazy mind took note that he was leaning heavily against a wall.
He tried to open his eyes.
Through blurred vision, he noted the wreckage around him.
Various objects were scattered around the room. The medical gadgets and odd tables were upturned, and the broken glass from the windows scattered all over the floor.
Even if he had already retired, his Shinobi instincts kicked in.
He forcefully cleared his mind and heightened his senses.
He caught sight of the medics that were attending his wife. All were unconscious, slumped on the ground or against the wall, most likely due to the blast that happened earlier. Thankfully, they're still alive judging from the weak chakra signatures that he felt from them.
What had caused the blast? Was there an intruder?
Suddenly, terror gripped him as he remembered his family.
Urgently, he scanned the room, and almost let out a sigh of relief as he saw them.
Almost.
Kizashi saw his wife securely holding a silently crying Sakura. He saw Mebuki moving her mouth, yet no words came out.
Confusion hit him.
Everything was too silent.
All he could hear was a low ringing tone that seemed to emanate out of nowhere.
Kizashi felt something cold trickling down the side of his neck. He weakly lifted his hand, not minding the pain that he felt, and touched the side of his head.
..
Oh, it seemed that his hearing was damaged.
..
He thought distantly, as he saw his bloody hand.
He glanced up again towards his wife and daughter.
Gritting his teeth through the onslaught of pain, Kizashi braced himself against the wall and stood up from his slumped position. Slowly, he made his way towards his family.
No matter what, he would protect them with his life.
…L…
With a hand lazily supporting the side of his head, a man idly tapped his pen against the wooden table, whilst looking down at the document he was currently reading. Or, well, staring at actually.
So far, it had been a quiet night.
He heaved a great sigh as he tiredly closed his eyes.
He didn't sign up for this job. Honestly, when he accepted this position, he mostly just thought about the perks that the old man often talked about. How nice of that Jiji to not inform him that he would practically live all his life confined on this stupid, yet admittedly cool, desk, signing these little evil incarnate known as paper works.
Damn Jiji.
He let out another sigh, his mind wandering yet again. He knew that he really should finish these little demons, yet even if he read a clause over and over again, his mind just refused to budge anymore.
..
10 more minutes.
..
He thought, as he read the clock decorating the side of office.
He let a slightly goofy smile cross his face as he thought about his heavily pregnant lover that he would be seeing pretty soon.
Suddenly, a shift in the air alerted him. He straightened up from his slumped position as he heard a piercing sound ringing through the air. He couldn't place the sound, he had never heard it before, for one, it sounded inhumane. Moments later, he felt a huge chakra surge from somewhere around the village.
In a split second, he was already halfway out of the window.
"Hokage-sama." The Anbu Captain assigned to his security detail called out.
"Investigate the source." Minato commanded, before he shunshined towards the origin of the blast.
…L…
In the cold depths of the cave, a being stirred as it felt the call of its master.
'Hime-sama.'
It was a guttural sound. It was like two people were talking at the same time, in that same husky voice.
Amidst the darkness that permeated the surrounding, cold yet reverent yellow-colored eyes snapped open.
It had been awakened.
…L…
At the same time, a red-haired woman woke up from her light doze.
Her heart hammered against her chest for reasons unbeknownst to her.
She scanned her bedroom and felt her surroundings for any signs of intruders. Fortunately, there was none.
She settled back against the bed, a little paranoid, and wondering what had woken her up.
..
I hope Minato would come home soon.
..
She idly thought as she protectively placed her hands against her ever-growing abdomen.
Suddenly, she felt a huge chakra surge from somewhere nearby.
Something was calling her.
…L…
For half a moment, Minato observed the wreckage of the room.
Before his attention caught sight of a softly crying infant securely nestled against her mother.
There was no doubt in his mind that the surge came from this child. He could still feel enormous amounts of chakra that was literally pouring out of this infant.
In other situations, he would be stunned that such a child could hold so much power, but he refused himself to be dazed. This was no time for that.
Suddenly, the door banged for a couple of times before it was forced open. It seemed that the other medics had been alerted, and no doubt, the other Shinobi around the village as well. Minato noticed the various chakra signatures approaching the hospital.
"Hokage-sama!" Koutaro Shin, the Head Medic, whom was the one to open the door, couldn't contain his outburst at the sight of the Yondaime calmly standing upon the disarrayed room.
"Koutaro-san." Minato greeted, he indicated at the unconscious medics, before turning his attention at the man hovering at the bedside.
"What happened here?" Minato asked the man. However, the man just stared at him confusedly.
Letting his subordinates move his injured medics out of the room, Koutaro quickly approached the man, upon observing his injured state. He then proceed to heal him.
"H-Hokage-sama." The woman holding the baby called out to him.
"I did this."
The man intervened.
…L…
Kizashi let the medic heal him.
The pounding ache coursing through his body slowly disappeared as the healing chakra of the medic worked its way. Gradually, he felt his hearing return.
"-ama... It was Saku-..."
"I did this." Kizashi intervened.
Momentarily, Kizashi could feel the medic's hands tensing at the sides of his face, as the man healed his damaged ears. Yet, after a moment's hesitation, the medic continued on his work to heal him.
Such was the dedication of a medic to heal an injured person.
Kizashi swallowed nervously as he felt his throat tighten as the cold, piercing blue eyes of his Hokage rested at his form.
Yet, he refused to budge at his stance.
"I did this, Hokage-sama." Kizashi repeated.
He heard his wife gasp at his impromptu confession. He quickly grabbed her hand, urging her to stay quiet.
The medic had finished healing him. The man took a step back before joining the side of the Hokage. His curious eyes stared at Kizashi behind his half-rimmed spectacles.
Everyone present in the room knew that Kizashi was lying through his teeth.
A tense moment has passed as all of them stared at the other, the silence broken by the child's occasional hiccups. Her eyes were tightly closed.
"Why do you lie?" The Hokage called his bluff, yet Kizashi was surprised that it held no anger in it, only curiosity.
"I didn't, I-"
"Do not lie to me, Shinobi." The Hokage sternly commanded. Obviously not amused by his constant lying.
Even if he was taken off active duty for a while now. Kizashi couldn't stop his trained body from standing at attention at the command of his Hokage.
Once a Shinobi, you will forever be a Shinobi.
Yet, Kizashi was torn.
He couldn't let them know about his daughter's strange eyes.
He wasn't stupid, he knew that his daughter caused the blast. He also felt the enormous chakra that was emanating from his daughter. He was in awe of it, actually.
However, Kizashi also knew what the village of Konoha did to whom they consider as prodigies. He would rather die than subject his infant child in that situation.
Granted, if Sakura decided to follow the path of a ninja, then he would not stop her. Kizashi would guide her with what he knew. But he would not tolerate it if someone were to force his child to do their bidding and take away her freedom of choice.
In the end, it all came down to Sakura.
However, not everyone would see, let alone agree, in his way of thinking. They were a Shinobi Village. Any individual whom was strong enough to fight, will be forced to fight, especially when the last war was still fresh in everyone's minds.
Kizashi watched as the Hokage's line of sight drifted from his form, towards his daughter whom was being cradled by his wife.
Swiftly, he shifted his position, shielding the view of the Hokage from his family.
At the corner of his eye, he could see the Anbu moved at his direction, probably seeing him as a threat due to his sudden movement. Fortunately, the Hokage quickly dissuaded them with an outstretched hand.
His heart was hammering against his chest at the situation. He knew that one simple move of assent from the Hokage will instantly cause his demise in a split second.
Yet, he refused to budge.
He was a man protecting his family.
Nervously, he swallowed to accommodate his suddenly dry throat, and clenched his trembling hands into tight fists at his sides.
The Hokage stared at him for a moment, and Kizashi stared back at him head on. If what he was seeing in those eyes were correct, he would've bet on his life that there was no hint of anger in them, just intense curiosity, and a hint of... Respect?
He wasn't sure, and he wasn't going to find out soon.
A sudden bout of crying interrupted his thoughts.
For a second, He worriedly looked at his side before he returned his gaze back to his Hokage. He desperately wanted to see his daughter and comfort her. Nonetheless, he couldn't move from his position.
Kizashi caught sight of a flash of red at the direction of the doorway, but he ignored it as he was still locked in what seemed to be a staring contest with the most powerful man in their village.
Call him suicidal, but yeah, he wasn't budging.
A gasp suddenly broke through the tense silence.
"Kushina." The Hokage seemed surprised as he saw the pregnant woman standing in the doorway. The woman seemed to be in her sleeping attire, as she was only wearing a simple white maternity dress that Mebuki always wore for the past few months. This strange woman, 'Kushina', as the Hokage called her, was even barefoot. It was like she hurriedly got up and about out of her bed and went directly in this particular hospital room.
The red-haired woman ignored him, instead, her gaze seemed to be stuck at the direction of his daughter. Slowly, she approached Sakura.
Kizashi honestly didn't know what to do. Obviously, this woman was someone close to the Hokage, judging from how the man practically oozed in weariness and concern at the sight of her.
Glancing back at the Hokage, he froze.
For the first time in his life, in that particular moment, cold blue eyes stared dangerously at him, daring him to take even one step towards this mysterious woman. Kizashi was scared shitless of the Hokage.
…L…
Something was pulling at her very being.
The sight of the child seemed to push out all the air she had in her body, making her a bit breathless as a result. She couldn't contain her gasp.
Not minding the others inside the room, she slowly made her way towards the child. Thinking back on it, it was as if she was subjected into some kind of trance. No matter what she did, she couldn't avert her gaze away from the object of her attention, not that she wanted to for that matter.
As she neared the bedside, the mother stared at her in a confused manner. Kushina paid her no mind. At her close proximity with the child, she could feel the massive chakra flowing and surrounding that tiny body.
Unexpectedly, her own chakra reached out towards the child's own chakra. Right then and there, at that exact moment when their chakra touched and swirled together in a tantalizing manner, something changed.
It was as if in all of her existence, she was missing something vital. A huge gap in her soul that she didn't even know existed, was suddenly filled to the brim, overflowing with a fresh breath of life.
For the first time, she felt complete.
Kushina watched as the scrunched expression of the child's face slowly smoothed out. Her cry gradually halted and slowed down into whimpers until it abated entirely. Her little lashes fluttered before her eyes opened completely.
Kushina couldn't contain her gasp for the second time that day. Judging from the multiple jolts of chakra coming from the others, it seemed that they were quite shocked as well.
And for good reason.
"Those eyes." Koutaro breathed out, his gaze seemed to be drawn towards the eyes of the child, as were many others that were present in the room. "Bloodline? A Doujutsu?"
Kushina was still drawn to the child. Slowly, she reached her hand towards that tiny form, and gently laid her hand atop the soft pink locks of the child.
On the other hand, Mebuki was stunned at this pregnant red-haired woman that was currently touching Sakura. However, she didn't feel alarmed, not in the least, as she felt no ill feelings coming from the said woman.
…L…
Sakura had long since quieted down.
She had finally shook herself from her emotional turmoil, long enough to get her normally functioning mind in order. Her mind was still slightly muddled from earlier events.
Alright, for some reason, she was sent back in time. She could guess that much as she noticed her mother's young features.
But then again, this could be a complex Genjutsu.
Was she caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi?
..
No.
..
The answer came to her almost instantly.
Her analytic mind dissected every flaw in this situation.
First, the Infinite Tsukuyomi ensnared the target through its light. For months, Sakura had been living in the shadows, careful to move from one shade to the other, never letting her guard down lest she be caught in its trap.
Second, the terrible technique locks a person in a Genjutsu, in which they would live in a dream world based on their respective desires.
That wouldn't make sense at all, because what she was experiencing at this moment was a fucking nightmare!
Finally, the last that she remembered, she was dying. The Infinite Tsukuyomi wouldn't have let her remember that, as the mighty technique would've erased all of her inhibitions and memories that would complicate the inner workings of said Genjutsu.
So, that led her to the realization that she was sent back in time. No matter how impossible that was.
But how?
How was all this made possible?
..
I remember that I was dying, I felt it, but,… wait,…
… Wasn't there a woma-…
..
She was halted from her mental ramblings when someone gently touched her head. Curiously, she opened her eyes and her gaze settled at this unknown woman.
..
Who is this?
..
Sakura had never seen this woman before, even in her past life.
At the mere thought of her past life, she could feel herself getting emotional again, as she did moments before.
..
Kami, my hormones are out of whack in this body.
..
She thought, as quiet whimpers broke out of her lips.
"Shh." This giant of a woman gently placated her. "It's alright, I'm here. No harm will come to you."
For some inane reason, Sakura believed this woman.
It was strange, it seemed that this woman had some kind of hold on her.
She traced every detail of the woman's features in her mind, hoping to see something that would trigger any kind of recognition.
..
Maybe this lady was a past patient of hers?
..
Yet, as she stared intently, she wasn't able to put a face in it.
It didn't help that she felt really comfortable – safe – in this woman's presence.
"Kushina." A masculine voice called out.
..
'Kushina'
..
Sakura repeated in her mind, utterly confused.
The red-haired woman glanced at the direction of the man that called out to her.
..
'Kushina'
..
"Kushina, what are you doing here?" The man's voice slowly came nearer, indicating his approach.
..
I heard that name before,… but where?
And that voice, it sounds familiar.
..
Sakura desperately wanted to look at the man with the familiar voice. But, she couldn't crane her head, or even move the rest of her body in a functional manner.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, it seemed that the man in question heard her silent plea as he stood beside the woman and peered down at her tiny form.
She felt her heart stop.
"Naruto?!" Sakura tried to say, but it came out as a combination of a cry, squirts, and spits. It was kind of disgusting really, as she felt her own spit dribbling down her chin.
She tried to call out again, but to no avail. It was very frustrating in her part, that she began to whimper again, getting ready to cry.
"Shh, it's alright, please don't cry." The red-haired woman, 'Kushina', said to her quite soothingly.
..
Wait, 'Kushina'… 'Kushina'…
And, now that I think about it, that's not Naruto,… That's-…!-
..
Sakura thought, dumbfounded.
Her brain just officially short-circuited.
..
A/N: Yup, it was such a long time since my last update. The reason for that is this: I'm waiting on Kishimoto's take on both Madara and Kaguya.
I just want to base my character's personalities on their Canon versions, I don't do well with too OOC characters. I also want to stick with the Canon!Version of events, that means that everything that happened in Sakura's past, happened in the Canon!Version, except in this fic, Madara (jinchuuriki of the TenTails!Madara) had won, and proceeded with the annihilation of those who opposed him. He wasn't stopped by Black Zetsu, there's a reason for that. I will mention what happened in the next few chapters when I get the plot moving.
Finally, Kishimoto had decided to off both Madara and Kaguya (Yey! For me, since that's what I was waiting for), now I can officially start writing this story, since I now have their personalities, and subsequent events, down to pat.
Many reviewers had asked, some even PM'd me, about the official pairing in this fic. I would just like to end/sate your curiosities, as of now, Sakura will not have an official pairing. Yup, I said it, Sakura isn't up for romance right now, she can ogle at hot guys, but she will not fangirl all over 'em anytime soon. Nope, not my Sakura.
Instead, they will fanboy(?) all over her. So, what I'm trying to say is, why would Sakura settle for one hot guy, when she can have 'em all? LOL! :P
Guest reviewers, please make an ff account, I couldn't thank you properly otherwise.
Many thanks to the following wonderful individuals:
Guest#1, Freddie4153, Lord Herobrine, XxXKiaAmaratsuXxX, Sakura Lover, Guest#2, Suzululu4moe, wickedgrl123, Guest#3, MistressTriss, Shadowmage97, Agoge, Koomahana, and anqiaj.