Disclaimer: I's FanFiction. Why are we required to write this?
Full Summary: "Honestly, I think that I'm afraid of being happy." she stared into my eyes. "Because whenever I'm happy, there's always something in my heart that shatters." she smiled that beautiful tragic smile of hers. "I think it's the knowledge that in the end, I'll be the one left broken."
Pairings: MinatoxSakura,
Warnings; Ocs, cursing,
Eternity.
That was the price she would pay if she was going to give Naruto a better future. Ironic how people usually give everything they have to gain the chance to live forever. Yet, here she was, desperately wanting to refuse such a punishment but her loyalty to her beloved urging her to accept such a fate. Akasuna no Sasori changed himself in a wooden puppet to achieve that feat. She, on the contrary, believed that not having an end meant losing your goal and losing your goal meant-
"Ino… I have always believed those words you told me. I always hoped they were true. I wanted to be like you. You were my goal. Thanks to that, I'm here now. That is why, Ino, I want this to be an all out fight. Unless I really surpass you, it's meaningless."
"What do I do now? They all left me. What am I still doing here, wandering without any sense of direction? It would be better to end my life. Then, maybe I'll do something meaningful."
"Losing your goal means losing the sense of life." Eien finished her train of thoughts, making her scowl at him, "But that only counts for those with no imagination. Like that Uchiha brat, for example, you know with the chicken ass hair and really pale skin."
Sakura realized that he was talking about Sasuke.
"Sasuke. Well, before the massacre, he strove to become like his brother and please his father. After that fateful night, he wanted to avenge his clan and when Itachi died he decided to destroy Konoha, again to avenge his family. When the Hokage pounded some sense in that thick skull of him he stole the dream Namikaze's son wanted to achieve."
Sakura, against her will, felt the need to defend her teammate and first love. She quickly quenched that feeling.
"You see, his whole life revolved around his family, whether to please or avenge but after Hashirama's lecture he found that he had nothing to go after. So, instead of searching and finding a new goal, he took the easiest path. He stole a dream. The dream of his best friend."
Eien fell silent. Sakura turned her gaze to the suspended image of Konoha. Were Tsunade, Sasuke and Kakashi there, training, drinking or reading porn? Were they even there? Had Tsunade already left the village? Was Kakashi even born? Was it worth it, to sacrifice a chance to be with them, even in death, to give them all a better life?
She suddenly felt herself being picked up by Eien and placed on the chair, her back turned to Konoha. He knelt before her and she desperately to see his face but it seemed that a shadow always lingered over him, even with Konoha's light falling over them.
Just who was he?
"See this?" Eien held out his hand, "Its you."
Sakura cast a glance at it, pretending to appear nonchalant about the whole matter. Yet, nothing could have prepared her for what she saw in his hand.
An egg.
A pink egg.
A motherfucking pink egg.
"Are you kidding me?" she scowled heavily, all semblance of nonchalance disappearing. She was so disappointed she didn't notice that she could finally speak. "You mean that my soul is an egg? I'm an egg?A pink egg?!"
Her pride couldn't have been blown more.
"No. Not really, but you can see it as a personification of the shell surrounding your soul. Everyone has one. The outer layer can be anything. A box or a coffin. A locker maybe? It depends from person to person. Yours pretty cute, though..." he chuckled, what deepened her scowl. He continued before she could retort. "Did you really think, little one, that I'll show you your very being? Without proving yourself? Without the consent of the Gods?" he laughed, long and hard, like the mere thought seemed ridiculous, before dryly stating,
"You're not special."
Sakura flinched. He didn't have to be so blunt about it. She knew that she was nothing.
"You're just a random someone that caught my attention. If it weren't for your ridiculous pink hair, I would have let you go to Hell, where all nameless Shinobi like you go." Sakura's hands clenched, fear gripping her heart at the name of that damned place. "Showing the soul of a human is like giving godhood to the first evil person out there. Do you know what the consequences are?"
Unable to utter a word, Sakura shook her head. No. She didn't know. Or actually, yes, she did. She just didn't want to believe it. Didn't want to accept the possibility of it.
"Catastrophic." he said, "A war of worlds. Endless suffering. Eternal hell. The end of everything. An apocalypse. It would mean the end of the Gods." he dropped his voice to a low whisper. Sakura had to strain her ear to hear him.
"The end of me."
There was a tense silence after that. Eien seemed to stare into the distance, remembering somethings she sure didn't want to find out about. Sakura, licked her lip from the blood and took a shuddering breath. Closing her eyes, she wondered what would become of her if he died.
After all, he was the one who saved her from the Grim Reapers clutches.
He seemed so powerful, so wise, so mysterious that it wouldn't have surprised her if he was some deity.
An immortal warrior. She imagined him roam the earth in search for entertainment. She imagined him coming across the battlefield, finding her and Naruto sharing their last moments. He shook his head, pitying their situation and turned around to continue his path when a flash of pink caught his eye.
What was a color of happiness and innocence doing in such a desolate place?
He came closer, seeing to his astonishment that it was a lock of hair. The dying girl had pink hair.
He grinned.
Let the good times roll.
"So, are you ready to pay the price? Do you accept giving your loved ones a better life?" he asked. They both knew that she really didn't have a choice in the matter. Refusing was not an option. Sure he could accept her choice and send her to Hell or even give her immortality. But deep inside, Sakura wanted to try and change something.
She wanted a new goal.
So, she opened her eyes.
.
"An undecaying body, a puppet body that can be built over and over again, unfettered by a mortal lifespan."
.
"What? You call those explosions fine art? Fine art is something wonderful that's left long into the future… eternal beauty."
.
"My old puppet body… Suddenly it all seems so pointless. I now have the body I've always desired, one that will never rot or decay. I've truly become a puppet in every sense of the word."
.
.
.
Never
Never
I gasped.
Never
Never
That word sounded like curse to me.
.
"Thank you."
.
I stared at her still form, feeling my heart shatter and break in infinite pieces. My hands were hovering above her body, they had been ready to touch her soft milky skin. So close to make her feel my love. So close to make her feel loved. So close to give us two a moment off pure bliss.
So close!
The air suddenly seemed to constrict around me, suffocating me and I began panting heavily. Her eyes, still half closed, stared at the night sky, the familiar determined fire in them having died out, leaving only two ugly pools of dullness. Her blood was already beginning to dry, turning brown and sticking to her.
Curiously, I felt hollow.
She was dead, here, before me and I couldn't bring myself to care. Haruno Sakura, my first crush, my first love, my everything was dead. Killed by that damned Uchiha -that name awakened a deep rage within me but I instantly squelched it- and I didn't care.
Why?
Why -when, how- did that nothingness settle within me?
It scared me. It really scared me. I didn't want to turn in an emotionless warrior like Sasuke or Kaka-sensei or that ANBU girl or- or-
"Is she- is she dead?" a voice, terrified and awed, asked. I breathed deeply, my gaze still riveted on Sakura. I hoped that her beauty would help me control the raging Kyuubi inside me.
Kurama
He trashed in his cage. Growled curses and vows of death. Howled in rage and pain. My anger. My pain. He begged me to release him, to end the suffering, to take revenge on Sakura's killer. And I wanted. I wanted to turn in a real monster, rampaging trough the lands and killing everyone without second thought. Without hesitation or regret. Without remorse. I wanted to give in and create a catastrophe. Make the world feel my pain.
The pain I wasn't feeling.
A little part of me told me that it was probably for the best.
Slowly, I hunched over her, my hands just a movement from touching her, still not daring to touch her.
.
"I love you too, baka."
.
One swipe and her broken, bloody body was in my arms. I hugged her tightly, wishing for us to mold into each other. I buried my face in her neck, in the short pink hair. Inhaling her scent, I tried to figure out from where the different odors came.
Dirt. The battlefield.
Soot. From the explosives.
Metal. Her blood, maybe? Or her weapons?
Acid. Her poisons.
Salt. She always smelt of salt. She always cried.
Sakura. Something that only belonged to her.
.
"But it's too late for us, now."
.
That's when the dam broke lose. A sob escaped my throat, soon followed by another and another and another. Remembering that that traitor Uchiha had asked a question- a dumb question- I slightly lifted up my head to look at him through my tears and whispered:
"Yes."
.
"It's better if you forgot about me, 'kay?"
.
"Yes, she's dead."
The Uchiha let out a shaky laugh, one of insanity and sorrow. I cried harder, like a frightened child who had no one to comfort him, to love him. Wails escaped my raw throat, tears blurred my vision, cleaning the dirt from my face, some of the droplets falling on Sakura's pale face as I mourned for something I didn't -couldn't- feel anything for.
Sakura
Sakura!
I love you!
Can you feel my love?
Why did you leave me?
Thank you for loving me
I love you!
Can you hear me?
I love you!
Sakura!
.
"Eternity is an awfully long time."
Eien smiled.
"Not when you find happiness in it."
So, I'm not really pleased with this chapter. It seems a bit too rushed in my opinion. And Eien is ooc. Bah, I'll probably just edit it in the future, when I have at least six chapters or so. If you're wondering when our favorite blond (after Naruto-kun) and his cute little students appear... have patience. Maybe the following chapter or the chapter after that.
Answers to reviews.
ByakuyaxRukiaKuchikifan: You asked when she'll go back to Eien (after her death or after her change the past/future). To be frank I still haven't chosen what her meant by it. It actually depends on the outcome of the story. So I decided to let the readers have their way.
PS: I really like how you seem to be attached to my story. You hold a special place in my heart for being the first reviewer.
Dezriell: Your review actually made me sob. Really, I cried. Out of all my stories, you were the only one who actually wrote a review with good grammar and sincere compliments. You even compared me to Kishimoto! I don't know how to thank you enough.
I hope that this chapter wasn't too disappointing. I have that annoying habit for rushing things to get to the good part.
I'm glad that you found this story realistic and true. I get really annoyed with other stories with their either too dense or too nonchalant character reactions.
Do you like how I didn't particularly reveal the identity of the Uchiha Naruto answered? How strange Naruto's grief appears to be? How I added more text and details in this chapter? How Eien changes from a Cheshire cat to a complete mystery?
Please, tell me in your next review.
Also thanks for all the other reviewers!
Keep on reading this story, I swear it will be unique.
By!