Reviewers;
7th Demon of Razgriz: No way. Wrong in so many ways. Why would I end it now? New arc to get through for the time skip.
MundaneBeast: How right you are, my friend. Foreshadowing it is.
NerdSoxx: Glad you are getting over the sadness, but maybe it's not as happy as you might think?
Tony Blu: A sandbox? Perfectly square and full of fun sand to play in? ;) The flaws are 'good' flaws or bad? I must admit to being a little hurt by your review, but then I know you are a critic to my work. Can you send me a pm of the external parts I'm doing wrong? I feel like I have time to write, just didn't complete this story before I started posting like my other ones. Cause I nailed it, but I missed opportunities? The starring couple is not sexual by the way. All the same, thanks for being honest.
Duh Bomb: They are indeed patient, but you know time apart makes the heart grow fonder of the memories one shares with the other.
Czar Joseph: Normal on the outside at least, but what's internal can change a lot, ne?
JayK24: She won't. I believe I wrote how her life was busy for the next few months, right? I believe I did. Anyways, thanks for the encouragement.
Logan Locke: Shinobi Wars...a great title, ne? I had thought of it honestly, and then it became completely separate from what I wrote here. I'm thinking a maybe on the story, since the plot line would be told in part in this story. I'll have to get back to you on it, but as for the plot line, what do you think, Logan? Good setting?
Yeah, hard work pays off for Sakura to become a household name. i can easily imagine twenty years from now in my story of girls being named Sakura. You got the Norris parallel and I love Texas Ranger. It made sense for Walker's past to be a mystery like Kakashi's. Yes, with everything she has now, she wants the one thing she believes she might have lost. As for frustration, it's a bitch.
As for letters, my friend works as a sorter for a number of celebrities. They go through about one thousand letters a day, easily, and that's NOT including email and texts nowadays. Fans are crazy at times. So yes, Sakura gets the one letter she wants, from our beloved Naruto. He wants to see her again, making her torn between her career and seeing him, but she knows that she is free in a bit, just not now. Thanks again, Logan. You are so inspiring.
Fury Cutter: A ninja in the real world playing a ninja in a different genre and television series that stars ninja battles. Yes, I thought it'd be a good twist myself. I felt like it would be as they got older that more characters would appear. Tsunade was the principle, well-known by most, by the way. And then it leads to the various other characters as well. I thought about giving Sakura a classic celebrity drug abuse, but that's not the Sakura I portrayed in the beginning. So I made her dreams, at least her dreams before Naruto, come to pass.
AN: Hey you guys! Ready for another weekend of fun?! Happy Halloween for those in the US, France, and maybe the Philippines? Not sure if more countries celebrate the day before All Saint's Day, which is a reverent day to think about one's life. Anywho, so since it's halloween, Trick or Treat? it's time throw some scare into your lives and realize that not everything is as it seems. Outside the exterior is a dark interior, and inside that is an interior of light. And inside that is your soul, of who you truly are, and I am proud to present my story unto you all. So, as is Halloween tradition, here is some blood and death.
Tone and Stroke
Chapter 14: Death Is Just The Beginning
Two months passed, and the series known as Shinobi Wars was reaching its season finale production phase. As it was, with more money and fame, the set had been enlarged and so there was more time spent on each hourly episode. That was why, with only one week left until it aired, Sakura Haruno, who played the lead role of Saku, was just now reading the script for the two hour season finale.
Sakura was reading the beginning and she had to admit, the writers were really making these episodes as great as the previous ones. They knew the books and were sticking to them for the most part which made the audience of millions of people happy to have a series abide so much to the books in such a way while adding in more action, romance, and suspense scenes.
Sakura looked down at her red battle dress on her frame and had to admit that she really liked it. Sure she flashed people her battle shorts from time to time, but when she was on set, her mind added a ghost and it was Naruto she imagined with his camera and she became confident in herself for some unknown reason, and deep down that reason was close to her heart. He had unlocked her true potential and Sakura no longer disliked herself for thanking him on live television. And he had seen it, Sakura knew he had.
Sakura had written Naruto back, apologizing that she was busy for the next two months of shooting, but that maybe they could meet up some other time. Naruto's art gallery was apparently a huge success, and the people all around the northern side of Konoha were flocking to look at his artwork, calling it a local's paradise. Sakura smiled, she was a local to northern Konoha; she had to see what Naruto had made that wasn't her especially.
Sakura's eyes grew narrow as she reached the last pages of the script, intent on memorizing what would be happening. Apparently, she had been hit by numerous shuriken and then stabbed in the stomach by another ninja. All her teammates for the mission were dying all around her, and only Nami was left, and then….she died...
What?! Sakura screamed in her head as she read it all over again. Yeah. She died for the end of season four book 2. Sakura knew that she would die in the series; after all, she was an avid reader of the series and knew that she died near the end in Nami's arms in book 7. Why were they killing her off now?!
Sakura sat back in her actress chair, her name bolded ink pink on the back, and sighed into the comfy velvet. The writers were murderers for sure. The crowd loved Saku, and they were going to be so angry with the series, especially the readers. Sakura made her way to the set, apparently she had a death scene to do, and as she stood next to Nami, a lone tear fell out of his eye.
"Nice acting, Nami."
"Who says I'm acting Saku? I really have liked working with you, and now you're dying."
"What can we do? We do this not for us, but for everyone else. Now, let's get this done, shall we?"
Smoke was everywhere, seeping from the ground as lava-laced chakra exploded and sent choking ash into the air above. Kunai and shuriken sliced through the air from three directions and Nami could only watch as more of his fellow teammates fell down to the ground, never to get up again.
Suddenly, a massive dragon encased of water and the size of a building surged forward out of the trees and Nami was caught off guard. But just as suddenly it appeared, a massive wall of earth shot up from the ground in the direct path of the dragon and it exploded, soaking the wall and making cracks form, but the wall stayed firm in the dragon's wake. Nami looked to his left and bending at his side with her hands shaking on the ground was Saku, with sweat pouring down her face and perspiring all over her body.
There was a slight lull in the fighting and Nami rushed over and held Saku's shaking body in his hands. "Saku! Are you okay?"
"I-I can't feel my hands, Nami." Saku muttered and shook them to try to get feelings back into them, but they flopped around, numb to the world around them. Nami looked around them and only three other members of his twenty five man squad were still at his side. Saku watched Nami check on their teammates, breathing heavily as she was so tired from running for forty-eight hours straight.
"Nami, w-what do we do?" Another teammate called out as they saw the hundred or so enemy shinobi that had ambushed them just after they had blown the bridges to the enemy supply lines, prepare to attack again.
Saku looked at Nami and saw the various cuts and nicks he had, as well as the cut on his forehead where blood covered over his left eye. "Nami, come here."
Nami walked over and as Saku healed the wound, he sighed and wiped the blood away. "I thought I told you to save your chakra."
"And I told you to shove it. All of us are still here because I healed each and every one of you guys." Saku retorted and the boys around her nodded their heads in rugged agreement.
"Well, we can't rest now. We're only a mile left until the border. Let's move out!"
And like that, the five remaining leaf shinobi pushed off from the earthen barrier and straight away, jutsus and metallic objects flew at and around them. Thirty minutes later, the group was stopped dead in their tracks and fighting the enemy up close in hand to hand combat for the last twenty minutes, and they were doing an outstanding job defending themselves.
All around them, enemy shinobi charged forward and the five teammates were defending themselves well enough, but the whole team could see that most of the enemy was attacking Nami. His various clones and erratic movements were part of the team's defense and eighty ninja laid in a huge circle around them, with only twenty remaining ninja left of which to attack them.
Nami casted a substitution jutsu with a clone of his and stabbed his sword directly into the enemy ninja's gut, as blood spurted out and coated his white cloak in blood. Nami looked around himself and saw his teammates killing off the enemy ninja. This battalion of shinobi were mainly trappers and tracking units. They had caught most of his team of twenty five off guard in the beginning stages, but they didn't have the power to have sustained fighting as his elite squad, the five remaining, did.
Nami took a glance at Saku and saw her defending herself while slashing two ninja's throats one after the other. He smiled. She was made for this. Her beauty was now what he strived for, his vision of a peaceful world where Saku could live in happiness and peace. He saw Saku look over to him and widen her eyes in terror before suddenly yelling something in his direction, but he couldn't hear her as the sound of chirping birds filled the airways.
Nami turned to the sound and saw a ninja racing towards him with electricity coating his hand. Nami took his sword and slashed downwards at the enemy, but as he reached the ninja's hand, his sword broke in two, the electricity's energy razor sharp and speeding towards him so fast, and suddenly...Nami was not there in the ninja's way; he was five feet away laying on the ground and he could only watch as he saw the ninja plunge his hand deep into a shinobi with…pink hair?
Saku gasped as the feeling of her stomach lining being ripped out of place completely filled her pain sensors, but quickly formed in her hands a chakra scalpel and slashed at the ninja's neck. The scalpel sliced clean through the ninja's spine, and his hand and body fell out of Saku and onto the ground.
Nami looked around and saw that the remaining enemy ninja were running away and sighed as he looked back at his teammate who…looked a little pale and as he looked at her stomach wound, he saw the blood falling out of her wound, before a steady trail moved down her dress to her hips, sliding along her porcelain skin where it pooled inside her boots and squelched at every little movement she made towards Nami.
"N-Nami?" Saku asked as her legs suddenly gave out and she fell to her knees. Nami raced forward and slowly coaxed Saku onto the ground, where she suddenly coughed up blood, it splattering along the ground as she choked on what remained.
"It's okay Saku. We won. You can heal yourself now."
"Y-you Baka." Saku smiled sadly, her eyes glistening. "I told you that I should have read that book on stomach injuries."
"You told me you had!" Nami rushed out, remembering back to a few weeks ago, five episodes back, to when they were preparing for another mission.
"I-I lied." Saku chuckled sadly, remembering what Nami had given her in return. "It was the only way to get a kiss on my forehead from you like you promised."
Nami sighed. "Now who's the baka? Don't worry, we'll get you to the village."
"N-Nami."
"Yes?"
"D-don't-don't...don't do that." Saku grimaced.
"Do what?" Nami questioned, his face guilty.
"Don't lie to me. You always were a terrible liar. You don't think I can't feel the blood pooling around me? I-I can already feel my organs shutting d-d-down." Saku said weakly before coughing rapidly as blood spurted out of her throat and landed on her face and neck. Soon, Saku would drown in her own throat of blood.
"Y-you don't know that, Saku. Y-you're going to be fine."
"N-Nami, did I do good?"
"Huh?"
"Y-you told me before the mission, remember? That if I ever took an attack meant for you, that you'd kiss me. R-remember?"
"Of course I do, Saku." Nami let tears freely fall down his face. "Why did you do it?"
"I don't know." Saku whimpered and looked away, blushing embarrassingly. "I just knew that you were meant for greatness, Nami. I knew the first time I saw you. You can bring forth the peace that the leaf has always wanted. I was merely a tool to protect you."
"You were never a tool to me Saku."
"I meant to give myself up to you, N-Nami, and now that will never happen." Saku's eyes began to glaze over and suddenly they all heard the sound of war machines about a mile out from their position. "N-Nami, you have to go."
"No, I won't leave you. Y-you promised to stay by my side!" Nami spoke louder and held Saku's hand harder.
"I will…a-always be at your side, Nami. That will never change. But, if y-You die, then how will I watch over you? P-p-please…leave me to die in peace."
Nami leaned in close and pressed his lips against Saku's unmoving ones and whispered something into Saku's ear as her eyes widened at what he told her. Nami backed up and caressed Saku's cheek, staining his hand in her blood.
Saku watched in unmoving motion as her other teammates grabbed Nami and pulled his stiff body away before they escaped into the trees. Saku coughed up more blood and her lungs began to suffocate herself more and more as she tried in vain to breathe in more and more air. As her eyes glazed over and her body ceased to breathe, she smiled.
"I love you too...Nami." Saku's final world echoed out as the scene turned black.
The show ended and the audience in every home in the land of Fire as well as many other lands were stunned in silence. Saku was dead? Why was she dead? What did she do wrong? WHY THE HECK DID THEY KILL SAKU?!
Over in a new lofted apartment, Naruto was shocked as well. How did this affect Sakura's career as a whole? Did she have another thing lined up already? Whatever the issue, Sakura looked…SO HOT in that revealing outfit!
After Sakura had begun her premiere on the show, she had written Naruto and convinced him to buy the books and read them and now he loved the books almost as much as Sakura did, and especially the series. Naruto's heart fluttered every time he was off at college seeing Sakura on the show and pointing her out to his friends on the cruise ship. Girls were envious of her and guys, nicer guys, asked if he could set them up. Like hell he would set them up! She was his Muse! Not Theirs!
Naruto looked at the time and saw that it was nine at night and picked up the phone, dialing Sakura's number that she had given him in her third letter to him. It was a non-listed number since Sakura and Ino were celebrities and Naruto was probably only one of a few that had the number. Naruto smiled brightly. He had never called her before, so hopefully this would be a great surprise for her. Naruto punched in the numbers, and put the phone to his ear, listening to the ringing on the other end.
As Naruto was preparing himself to call his girl, Sakura was lying on her couch watching the nine o'clock news and the first hand reports of the show were reporting that readers especially were outraged and the viewers were livid on every reviewing station that they could.
Sakura heard Ino walk back in from outside, where she had carried her suitcase out to her car. She had a photo shoot on the islands of Mist country this weekend. Ino looked over at Sakura and shook her head; at home, Sakura simply wore a see through nightie that she had had for four years, and black and red panties and red shorts to keep herself covered. She didn't know where Sakura bought them, but man did they fit her perfectly!
"Sakura, I'm off now." Ino yelled out as she saw Sakura turn onto her back, her breasts' tips protruding clearly out of the nightie.
"Okay, I'll see you in a couple days, then?"
"Uh-huh." Ino called out when the phone to the loft sounded out. "I got it." Ino called out and picked it up. Sakura returned to the television when suddenly her world shifted in place.
"Oh Hey Naruto! What's up?"
Sakura flipped over the couch's armrest onto the wooden floorboards below, tumbling slightly from the whiplash and rushed over to Ino who saw her coming and smiled deeply, before running around the room in circles as Sakura tried repeatedly to grab the phone from her best friend.
"Oh! You want to speak to Sakura?" Ino smiled coyly before ducking as Sakura jumped over her and landed back on the couch. Ino jumped on top of Sakura, straddling her as her feet moved around, trying to buck her off, but Ino simply wrapped her feet around her arms and held her there.
"Ino, please! I want to talk to him! It's his first call! Come on! Please!" Sakura pleaded before Ino covered her mouth with her free hand, gyrating her ass against Sakura's crotch, making Sakura groan in frustration.
"Well, I don't know if Sakura can come to the phone right now, Naruto. She's pretty…" Ino paused and smiled at Sakura's playfully angry eyes, "tied up at the moment. Can I take a message?"
"Uh-huh, really? What do I get in return? A kiss? Oh geez Naruto-Kun, stop it!" Ino smiled before jumping off. "Well, I have to go now, so here's Sakura. Here you go Sakura. Love you lots." Ino smiled as she dropped the phone on the couch and Sakura watched her go and readjusted her clothes and hair and picked up the phone.
"Hello Naruto."
"Hey Sakura."
"So, what did you call me for? I am so surprised that you haven't called me up at all?"
"I thought it might be for emergencies."
"You never need an emergency to call me, Naruto."
"I know, but I wanted to see how you were doing since you got killed off in the series just now."
"Yeah. It kind of sucks, but I would've died later on. They just needed me gone. It's alright."
"The scene made me cry, Sakura. I thought that you were really dying."
"They punched me in the gut for real, and the mixture of blood dye and tomato juice I had to swallow and cough up, that was a huge adventure on my part not to pass out."
The two laughed for a long while and continued to talk of random things, things they had done when they were...together. And as Sakura looked up at the clock, she saw that it was two in the morning.
"H-Hey Naruto?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm tired, but I've loved talking with you Naruto. It's so nice to hear your voice after so long. Has it gotten deeper?"
"A little. Are you saying goodnight? I don't really want to stop talking to you."
"And I don't want to stop either…Naruto, are you free for lunch tomorrow?"
"What? To meet up?"
"Yeah. I want to see you."
"Sure. I mean of course! What time?"
"How about a late lunch? I have volunteer work in the morning. Say, three?"
"Where?"
"You know that old diner that you took me to? Ichiraku?"
"I know the place. I'll be there."
Hey you guys, I knew I couldn't kill off Sakura as a character, but how did I do with her acting career?