The Lady
May Eve
Prompt:
HP/Naruto trio reincarnation fic.
(It just so happens that I was reading "Sunfall" by C. J. Cherryh and the last short story dealing with the dying sun and Earth's cities and people was called "The General" it deals with reincarnation in four lives; Yilan Baba-Shimshek-Gunesh-Boga;
Yilan Baba being Sargon, Menes, Hammurabi, Gilgamesh, Achilles, Cyrus the Persian, Alexander, Hannibal, Germaniucus, Arthur, Attila, Charlemagne, William, Saladin, Genghis.
Shimshek being Enkindu, Patroclus, Hephestion, Anthony, Lancelot, Roland, Hasdrubal.
Gunesh – Roxana, Cleopatra, Guenevere, Helen.
Boga – Mordred, Agamemnon, Xerxes, Bessus, Lawrence.
It talks too, of Montmorency and Dustan and Kuwei; Arslan and Kemal…there are names here that I know, and some I do not, but I knew enough to take a breath and want – so often Sakura Haruno is overlooked, so I took this prompt and ran with it.)
0o0o0
Naruto had his Kage Bunshin no Jutsuand Sasuke had his Sharingan, and Sakura, what had she?What made her worthy as a kunoichi of Konohagakure? What would set her apart, what made her special? She didn't know, and that…that made her both sad – and angry. She felt helpless and selfish, relying upon others to help her; she didn't feel as if she did her part. Yet she didn't know what she should do, what she could do – where did her skills lay?
She had goals, and she couldn't reach them.
Not as she was. She had to change. She just…didn't know how.
Not until Tsunade took her in and began to train her did she feel she was doing something right, something worthy, because if she wasn't on par with the fighting skills, at least she could do this- could heal – could help to clean up the mess and put people who had broken themselves or been broken back together. It was when she did this that Sakura realized that she too was broken, that that she was severed in two – there was who she tried to appear to be, and there who she really was – the self she had severed.
To heal others, she had to be whole herself.
She dreamed that night of castles, of spells, of books and more books, of sand running out of an hour glass. And she stood side by side with a boy bespectacled and black haired and one red haired and freckled.
She woke sweating, shaking, and with a strange word upon the tip of her tongue and meeting her ears before it could be forgotten.
"Witch" was the word.
Sakura Harunohad to know what that word was, what it really meant – so she turned to research, and that felt that doing so was right and familiar to herself. She'd always known how to go about finding out things, even when she felt she knew nothing of a subject. Sakura had always had a feeling while studying, that she wasn't looking at the right book.
This time she had a word, one word, to start with. It was a seed that took root in her mind and grew; grew great and golden and glorious, so much larger than she was that she could not see beyond that one word. That word that was what she was.
"What are you looking for?" Naruto asked out of the blue one day, as he sat perched upon a table watching her browse so many books of history that she felt she would never read them all – not, at least, in this life.
He startled her, for she hadn't thought he was there. He saw it.
"How long have you been there, watching me?" Naruto grinned, the lines upon his cheeks giving his features a fox's mischief.
"I'm never far from my friends." Naruto winked as he went, choosing the second-story window rather than the door. Sakura frowned after him, her eye catching the title that he had been sitting next to, as if he'd been hiding it… or was now showing it.
"Lost History: A Study of Magic" was the title, and she picked it up smiling as if at an old friend. She took it home, and it seemed that every word she read for the first time she had written down and forgotten that every turn of the page was a memory peeking out. It told of strange and fantastic things and beings, magic which witches and wizards used by wand waving and words was not the chakra of theshinobi's jutsu.
It was like nothing she'd ever read of, nothing she'd ever heard of either.
She remembered what Kakashi had remarked upon so long ago, her remarkable control of chakra – and Tsunade's claim of the same; for she could not have trained her to be a medic-nin otherwise. For the first time, she wondered why she had that skill – how she had it when only a handful of others did. All others had struggled to gain that control, and studied for it, but Sakura had it as a natural innate talent for it – like…like magic.
The art of magic with its ancient words and wand waving had died out with them – those few who carried a "pure bloodline"; because everyone had chakra, and anyone trained might use it. Such was not so with magic, only those born with magic could put it to use; they had to train with waving a wand and practice archaic words for spells. It was a simple truth, that when two competing talents we're given to the individual; the ability that was more widely accepted usually won out as the skill they practiced. It was a choice few ever realized they had made. Sakura could see that that was what had happened between now and then. Once there had been schools for young wizards and witches. There were no such schools now.
Those buildings were but ruins now, a bit of curious history. Magic was there, or it was not; no one was wondering if there might be wizards and witches now, walking about untrained and unknowing of the magic they possessed by blood.
Yet "Lost History: A Study of Magic" gave Sakura hope, that was lost wasn't truly lost forever, in it was a chapter about a magic and memory. Things called Pensieves and how they worked, small hints that made her think in ways she never had before.
Sakura pressed her lips into a thin line, and wondered if her dreams were truly dreams and not memories. It might end up being but a silly fancy, but no one had to know – and she would not be laughed at if they never did and this was a mistake she now made.
The memories of wizards and witches were not like those of ordinary people; magic kept those memories and thoughts, tied them to the soul, all the memories of the life that they lived, and all memories of the lives they had lived before being born. Their souls were as immortal as any other; but they kept all the memories, rebirth and afterlife did not wipe them clean, death and life did not put such memories out of reach.
If she was a witch it would be a simple thing to prove, all she had to do was remember that incarnation; and have a place, a Pensieve to put that memory of the life she had lived before this one. She could see all of the memories of that life, if what was written in this book was right and true.
Sakura didn't think she had anything to lose, and so closed her eyes with focus, and thought of her dreams and put her fingers to her forehead. There was a pressure seeping out, a weight teasing to her fingertips, which went away with her fingers, and when she opened her eyes what she saw made her gasp - threads, entwined and braided, mercury silver and hazy with eerie mist. They wove together, a tapestry of memories.
It was only after she stared at it that Sakura realized she had no place to put the memory, no Pensieve. Yet she couldn't put it back – this might be her only chance. She cupped her hands together and cradled the memories there, closed her eyes again and brought her hands and the memories within them to her face, letting the warmth of them wash over her.
Sakura saw memories, she drank down lives.
0o0o0
Sakura Haruno opened her eyes; they were blue and wide, ringed with brown. She had seen more than she could ever say – and never, she knew, would she have the words to say and explain. There was simply more than this life to her, more than Sakura Haruno – more than Hermione Ganger. She had not expected that she had lived so many lives, lived so much history.
There were tears on her cheeks, and her heart hurt. She knew, at last, who she was – who she had been, and what she had to do – was live and love.
"It's not easy, is it?" Naruto eyed her cautiously; he squatted at the window ledge, watching her with wary eyes.
Sakura wondered how long he had known, and why she had never seen it.
"It never is, as you well know." She smiled and offered her hands for him to take, and he came quickly – eagerly – to her side, smiling warmly.
"We'll be alright, now that you remember." Naruto was so confident in his words – he, no matter his name, had always been so stubborn. Sakura was not so sure. Yet they had to try. Living hurt, but trying kept them alive. Life was not so simple as to live and let live, it never had been – not for them.
By we, Sakura knew Naruto meant more than just he and she – he meant him, them – Sasuke, he's great friend – that had been an almost sure thing, throughout all their lives over centuries. It hadn't been changed – except now, in this life – it scared her, what Sasuke had become, her dear friend, who had been a lover to her, in more than one life – who she loved still. Always Sakura had loved both Naruto and Sasuke, that at times she called one friend and one lover, well, sometimes that made no difference.
But it might, just might, have made all the difference in this one life, where Sasuke was in such great danger, meddling with powers greater than his reach – and alone.
"He's been so badly hurt, all his life; he's not let himself know…us, nor remember anything but that tragedy." That hurt her deeply, and hurt Naruto as much – if not more – she knew, even as he flinched and looked aside. They should have been great friends, and Sasuke should have loved her, but he'd kept himself to himself – and they'd showed up in his life too late to make him change his mind. He had become who he was without knowing them.
They could still save him; Sakura had to believe that – because Naruto did so strongly. He'd shown that, over and over, proving it in everything. There was a part of him that could never not trust Sasuke, that would be loyal to them even at his own undoing.
"He is so full of hate, he is afraid to – afraid of how much we mean to him, of hurting us…you know how often he's said he wants to kill me." Ruefully he said it, as if he thought he deserved it, at that thought she shook her head in denial.
"Naruto, I know you love me – and as you love me, he loves you, loves us, in your heart of hearts, believe that! You remember it, don't you?" Sakura searched his eyes, blue and gentle. There were times when Naruto showed such naivety, and others when he seemed wiser than them all; all this time, she wondered… had Naruto been hiding and hurting for them?
Sakura remembered hurting him herself, because she didn't understand…anything, of who he was, who she was, or her feelings that peeked out from lives she had lived and hadn't remembered until now – but he had… he had…
"I haven't remembered it like you Sakura, I…it comes and goes, like a fog or smoke, sometimes….sometimes I think it's all in my head." Sakura knew that if she ever denied her lives, her memories of him – them – that it would hurt Naruto more deeply than in this life alone. So much between the three of them hung upon this life, it had always been a risk with every life they lived – but not as great as this. What had changed, what had been lost, was magic.
It, she knew, had to be found again, had to be used; to loose magic in the world meant a death – not only for them, but a kind of death of everything. They would be as lost as she had felt; skilled, but not whole, directionless.
"You aren't alone, Naruto – not anymore, not with me – and will prove the truth of our memories to Sasuke, somehow." Sakura put her head against his, resting against his strength.
Naruto could be as great as Sasuke was now terrible; Naruto could be the Hokage (so too, she knew, could she be!) but above all what they had to be was together. Only with each other could they live their lives fully healthy; only with each other could they find magic.
It was their purpose life after life, to keep magic alive and kindled. They could not fail.
"How?" Naruto asked of her, soft and desperate and so very willing to believe in her.
His faith made her smile.
"We show him it. That for all his skill as a shinobi, he's no wizard without us; he'll know magic when he sees it." Naruto nodded slowly, agreeing, his smile as bright and enlightening as any sunny day.
Sakura never again wanted to see him frown.
So she would find Sasuke and put him (them) back together again.
0o0o0
Divining is easier than dreaming, but a bit harder than believing; the real trick to doing magic, to keep doing it and to grow up, is to not doubt – to never doubt, but to believe. That's way wizards and witches must be taught at a young age, because they can believe so easily. Once, there had been words and wands and enchantments, curses, transfigurations, and potions. In face of that kind of magic, Sakura knew that in lives previous she had scorned divination as a fortune teller's trick rather than any kind of seer's truth for prophesy. So there is a certain kind of sour irony that divining where Sasuke is will save her, save them.
Naruto watches her do it, as if studying.
Sakura does not think Sasuke will ever come willingly to them; and they can not risk tracking him down and the possibility of attacking in retaliation. So, the thing is, with divining they will know where he will go, and he can not avoid them then.
"Found him?" Naruto asks hopefully when Sakura opens her eyes.
"You better believe it." She kisses Naruto on a whiskered cheek and whispers to him of her visions.
0o0o0
When Sasuke comes into the diner of a small village north of the border, Sakura is waiting for him at a booth in the middle of the far wall. He doesn't see her until she wants him to. By the time he does, it's too late to get out. His dark eyes are wide with shock to see her sitting there waiting for him with a small smile on her lips.
She stands to greet him as Naruto locks the only door in or out behind him.
"Sit." Sakura waves his seat to him; it scrapes across the floor to settle behind his knees. Taken off balance, he sits abruptly.
"What are you doing here, Sakura?" For all that he is addressing her with words; he has eyes only for Naruto – who very carefully doesn't look back.
"Well, obviously this is all about you Sasuke. You brought us here. Naruto and I, well, we just can't get enough of you. Hard to believe, I know, even after all this time, but, well, what can I say? Love knows no reason." Sasuke frowns at her, eyes narrowed.
"What's wrong with you?" Sasuke knew Sakura Haruno, or thought he had. This…this wasn't like her.
"What's wrong with me? Me? Really, Sasuke? What's wrong is that you're breaking my heart – and, okay, I admit this isn't the first time you've done that to me. But what I can't forgive? You're hurting him." Sasuke saw the book she had put in the table in front of her that her fingers tapped an agitated rhythm on. Her eyes went to Naruto, who stood still and silent. It wasn't like Naruto either.
Something very strange was happening, because Sasuke couldn't stand, couldn't so much as twitch a muscle, and sure as hell couldn't speak now. Sakura's smile told him he wouldn't be able to until she was finished.
"That isn't forgivable Sasuke." Sasuke got a good look at what she wore, a hood of red.
"You know a lot of things, just like us, but you don't know how you know them, do you? We do. Naruto and I remember what we were, what, in fact we are. You used to be our best friend, your name used to be Harry Potter. Mine was Hermione, and Naruto? Ron, but that's only three names, only one pervious life we've lived, the thing about the three of us? We keep coming back, over and over and over." Sakura sounded tired, as if she had had to live those lives again to remember them.
"So this time Sasuke, you have the choice to make – join us, let us help you, or do not – and you get what you think you want." Sakura passed Sasuke as she headed for the door, patting his shoulder as she went. Sasuke heard the lock turn and heard them leave side by side, but his eyes were on the book Sakura had left behind.
"Lost History: A Study of Magic" H. J. Granger.
Sasuke had never seen that book before, but he knew what name those initials hid: Hermione Jean Granger, his Sakura.
He picked it up, and for once, followed.