Disclaimer: I Unfortunately don't own anything in Naruto, If I did it would be called Sakura.

A/N: I debated on leaving this a one shot, but I think I have some ideas on a plot to make it a multichapter. Let me know if you like my writing or the chapter, even if it's just a pilot. This is my first time writing a fanfic, so please leave reviews!

A/N: For the most part this fic follows canon. Although I do take some minor liberties to help fit the plot, that aren't really seen within this chapter.

Summary

Sasuke has finally killed Itachi. Left feeling empty and stranded in a place unknown, Sasuke doesn't know what to do next. Only when he meets a young girl, whose features remind him of lives long lost, does he begin to feel a spark of something. Sarada Uchiha and she was his daughter. A 17 year old Sasuke meets Sarada.

"My dream doesn't exist in the future. It lies in the past. That's the only place it exists." - Sasuke Uchiha

The sun reaches its apex, showering unforgiving rays onto the sand below. A bird screeches nearby, filling the silence. How long have I been here, he thought. Sunlight filtered through closed eyelids, red filling his vision. Despite trying, limbs refused to move and muscles strained with pain and tiredness. A soft wind shifted heated sand onto sore flesh. Open wounds flared as foreign particles invaded his body.

Sasuke's mind was strangely numb. Years… he had waited years, gave up his body, broke bonds, grew stronger; yet - why wasn't he happy? This isn't what he expected to feel. By killing Itachi, he had gotten his revenge, so why had emptiness seeped into his very soul? For the past 7 years, there was only one thing that kept driving him forward, and now that Sasuke had accomplished it, he didn't know what to do. Images of Sakura and Naruto flashed in his mind. Going back to the village was out of the question as his crimes had already piled so high. Like a tattoo permanently etched onto skin. Besides… Those bonds were long broken.

Every breath required more effort than usual. Chapped lips threatened to break and his body fell victim to the blazing sun above. Another wind blew, shifting more sand. Was there sand when he fought Itachi? He couldn't remember. Sasuke let his head fall to the side and opened weary eyes, expecting to see the lifeless body of his older brother. But what greeted him was a vast desert. With a jolt, Sasuke shot up taking in the surrounding area. Sand spanned miles upon miles around him. Nothing in sight, empty, just like him. Where am I? Had he not passed out only moments after Itachi? Had they not fought in the Uchiha hideout, in the Land of Fire? Encased in a mountain within a vast forest? So, how did Sasuke Uchiha end up here, completely unbeknownst to him?

Shock slowly wore off and adrenaline receded. A pained moan escaped his lips from sudden movement. "Tch." It was a pain that he often looked over. Too focused on power and revenge to pay it any heed. Without that, Sasuke was left with weakness; a drained body that no longer wanted to do what the mind commanded.

Sasuke's muscles protested as he rose, shivering like a leaf in the wind - ready to topple over from the slightest breeze. The simplest movements left him winded, struggling to catch his breath. Hot oxygen filled his lungs to match his skin's temperature. Nausea flushed over him when he attempted to straighten, leaving him hunched over once more, spewing the contents of an empty stomach.

Sasuke's shirt had been discarded somewhere during his fight with itachi. The shirt it seemed, hadn't travelled with him. With nothing to protect him from the blistering heat, Sasuke made his way forward, using his sheathed kusanagi as a crutch. He needed to find water before dehydration gripped his failing body. He needed to make a conscious effort to put one foot in front of the other. To not fall. To keep straight. Even alone, Sasuke Uchiha refused to show signs of weakness.

xXx

Sounds of metal clashing, breathless pants, and moving bodies, reverberated in the air. Two figures engaged in focused combat within training ground 3.

Sarada's sharingan flashed, taking in everything at once. She bared her teeth and widened her stance in a defensive position. He's going too fast. Even with her sharingan activated her abilities could never match his.

Shuriken zipped forward, slicing the air in clean arches. Against all instinct, Sarada ran forward. Her eyes couldn't catch everything, her body remained too slow, and her mind struggled to process rapid information. She twisted her body in an aggressive dance, trying by all means necessary to get close enough for a single punch. One good punch - that's all she needed. Shurikens flew by, and while she managed to avoid most, her untrained body simply isn't fast enough. A few graze Sarada's skin, leaving surface wounds. Adrenaline hid her pain under the mask of pure ambition. Blood intermingled with sweat and flew off her, coating the grassy ground beneath.

Now. Sarada leapt into the air. Focusing chakra into her fist, she reeled her arm back, adding momentum to an already powerful blow. A deep guttural roar left her bared teeth seconds before meeting her opponent. The ground splintered, a smirk appeared, and she exclaimed: I did it!

Sarada straightened, expecting to see her opponent beneath her or at least slightly wounded. Realisation dawned that she, in fact, did not do it. The smirk faded and disappointment surged.

"Well done," he said. Having used a substitution jutsu to switch places with a flying shuriken behind her, he had evaded the attack. His lips curved upwards and he softened his typically stoic face.

Sarada turned to face him. A smile spread across her face. A stark difference to the person in front.

"Papa!" she exclaimed. Pride replaced disappointment. On rare days when her dad came home and he wasn't busy, Sarada would ask him to train with her. She looks towards him with admiration. His abilities were on par with the person she aspired to be like the most: Lord Seventh. While both were strong, if she wanted to be hokage she knew she needed to train more. A look of determination crossed her face.

Sasuke Uchiha looked at the strong and capable kunoichi his daughter had become with pride.

xXx

"Ahhh! Tell me again why we have to walk to Suna, when we have a perfectly good Thunder Train?" Boruto said, exasperated. With his hands cupped behind his head and nose pointed up, Boruto somehow managed to exude an air of frustrated indifference. Something only he could pull off.

Team 7 huddled together, a couple feet back from their hire. Sarada rarely got to showcase her leadership skills since becoming the sole chunin on her team. In times of peace… When there weren't alien predators seeking to destroy all of humanity, Konohagakure genin and chunin sat idly waiting for the next mediocre mission to grace their presence. This mission was no different: escort a noble to Sunagakure. Easy enough, right?

Sarada's ever thin patience had been wearing away listening to Boruto complain about not receiving a 'challenging' enough mission.

It had only been a day since they left Konoha. Sarada let Boruto's grumbling fade into the background as she remembered 'meeting' their hire for the first time. The crowd had been blissfully unaware of the evil that lurked on all corners of this earth. Evil that kept her father out of the village for long periods of time, that kept him away from his family: a beautiful image of peace that was shattered by bouts of jealousy. These people didn't even know what she had to sacrifice for their peace. Sarada knew that her father protected the village from the outside, the same as Lord Seventh protected it from the inside. He was the shadow Hokage. But she was only 12, a child that lived years without seeing the face of her father and a father that forgot the face of his daughter. Yes, Papa was trying to come back more often, but even when he was back he spent more time with Boruto. She wasn't angry at her friend, in fact she was the one who convinced papa to train him. But she was more jealous that Boruto could train under his idol, while she would never have the chance to train under hers.

In the distance, a large carriage had made its way through the crowd. People halted as it passed to admire its elaborate designs, while others craned their necks to gaze a peek through the window at the noble inside. Konoha, being one of the great hidden villages, never saw a shortage of nobles. In fact, it was a fairly common occurrence for it to be full of nobles. But the gossip mills always churned and who was the cutest, richest, and the most fashion sensible noble were always the greatest content. Two horses had pulled the carriage, its harnesses just as elaborate as the rest, and sleek fur shone under sunlight, highlighting toned muscle from dragging heavy cargo. Its manes fluttered in the wind as they made their way to the group.

Sarada snaps back to the present. "At least we get to go out of the village. Besides would you rather be chased by the Otsutsuki?'' she retorted. Clothes shuffled as Mitsuki nodded his head in agreement. To her right, Boruto side eyed her, muttering something about how at least that would be more fun than playing babysitter.

Through the carriage window, a mess of dark brown hair that had faded into the colour of honey seemed to peer out. Only his curious pale blue eyes were visible, softened by a hidden smile. The eyes suddenly landed on her, as the carriage halted beside the trio. Wooden doors swung open with a light thud. Adorned in a simple haori, nagagi, and hakama, their hire lightly hopped out, with a youthful vibrancy often not seen in noble borns. He couldn't be much older than her, 17 at most. Sarada stood mesmerised. Unlike her mother, she never fawned over guys. Rather, she spent her time training, studying, going on missions, or hanging out with friends. She was much too busy to pay attention to any guy. But much to her dismay, Sarada stood there blushing like a newly wed bride. "Name's Watanabe Akio" A bright smile that reflected his name greeted the trio.

"Hey, what the hell?! Why didn't you show your face when we left?! What the heck were you even doing in there for so long?" Boruto jabbed a finger towards Akio, his frustration in full bloom. As much as she cared for her childhood friend, Sarada couldn't help but wonder how Boruto became a ninja with his blatant disregard for authority. How could someone be so different from their father? In her eyes Lord Seventh was regal, someone who watched over the village with tired eyes. Yes, Lord Seventh was a little clumsy, but nothing like the kid next to her.

"Nice to meet you Watanabe-san, I'm Sarada, the loud one beside me is Boruto, and this is Mitsuki. I will be the lead on this mission. There's two more days until we reach Suna," she said with a polite bow and a smile plastered to her face. Was she annoyed that it took a whole day for their hire to greet them? Yes. Was she going to air out those annoyances? Of course not. Sarada was a professional after all.

"Mmmm sorry sorry, I sleep like the dead. Even ask Yuuto over there." Akio let out a jovial laugh, pointing at the man steering the carriage. Yuuto gave a fleeting glance over to the group, and gave a polite nod in agreement to his master's words. "See! Shall we continue on? I would hate to miss the rest of the journey. In fact, I think I'll join you all in walking." With that the Young noble turned on his heel and walked away, leaving the trio completely whiplashed.

xXx

Two damn days he'd been wandering endlessly in this heat, and with no landmarks identifying his location, he didn't know where to go. What he did know was that he had passed that same boulder three times. On its side, cobweb-like markings littered it's side, when Sasuke had inevitably lost all composure earlier. Two days, since he's had any sort of food, water, or shelter. The vast desert area around him, unforgiving in its nature, had not even provided a cave or cliff to shelter under. The mornings were blistering hot and the nights were frigid cold. Untreated open wounds had begun scabbing over, trapping foreign particles within. He was fairly certain his body had become riddled with infection. A slow and painful death was awaiting him. One more day without food, water, or medical care, and his body would begin to shut down. Sasuke leaned back onto the boulder, resting his legs, and revelled in whatever shade it provided. He needed medical attention and fast. His body was far too hungry and battered to heal on its own.

Maybe sleeping would help. Walking around aimlessly in the heat didn't do any good. At least at night, continuous movement would help heat up his cold body. Sluggish eyelids struggled to stay open, in case of an attack.

That's what he needed. Just… one… quick… nap.

xXx

Muffled voices woke him up with a startle. But Sasuke kept his eyes closed hoping to glean some information. Well, any information at all as to where he was and who these people were. He was much too tired to hold his own in a fight right now. Even the great Sasuke Uchiha knew his limits.

"Hey! Get away from him."

"He's right, we don't know who he is."

"But he's hurt! We need to help him."

"We will! But first get away, let the professionals handle this."

Two males, one female. And one of them was very, very close to him. Too close. Judging how far each voice sounded, Sasuke deduced that the one who wanted to help him hovered over his body. Male, older than the rest, and probably the most naive.

"We can take him to Suna with us!"

"Wata… Sir, that's probably not a good idea. We don't know who he is or why he's so injured. He could be a spy, terrorist, or something else. If we bring him and he turns out to be a bad person, we could cause an inter-village incident!"

Sasuke should have known. No where else could there be this much desert other than the Land of Wind. He really must have been delirious to not have put two and two together.

"Yeah, besides we have health pills, it'll heal him, but unlike military ration pills it wont restore chakra or increase vitality, so we'd be safe. Plus Sara-OW!" An abrupt thump. It seemed like it hurt. "Alright Alright, I'm sorry! Our team lead here could heal up some of the surface wounds… hopefully."

Sasuke sighed internally. These were kids, probably genin, if they were this stupid. He's killed many people over the years, but never did he feel the need to kill a child. Especially ones that could heal him right now. And especially now that all the fight had left his body.

"You know I suck at medical ninjutsu you idiot!"

"But you're the only one who's had any training for it."

His ears perked. Sasuke had been wrong, there was one more male here. Standing the furthest, and sounding the most amused.

Sasuke's patience was wearing thin. This group of idiots didn't know what they were doing. He knew that even at his worst, he could take on a group of genin, at least in order to get away. Now that he knew where he was, finding Suna shouldn't be too hard.

Cool hands hovered just barely above Sasuke's face, causing his breath to hitch. 'Shit', he thought. For sure that one move would reveal his conscious status. But the hands hadn't moved. Cooling chakra entered his body, stitching up wounds and healing infection. Someone poured water into his mouth, a pill soon following suit. He didn't know what he trusted about this group, or if he even trusted them at all. They could be trying to kill him. But… Would that be so bad?

Whatever it was that the group had given Sasuke, it had already started to work. He could feel his body mending itself. But it still left a foul aftertaste that spurred a newfound need for water. He began to hack, in a failing attempt, to remove that aftertaste from his mouth. The taste was akin to what someone would think wet mud would taste like.

"I think… I think he needs more water," the older male stated, apparently still sitting beside him.

Sasuke opened his eyes to slivers. The sun's rays were still too bright for his unaccustomed eyes, causing a headache. Or maybe the headache was from a lack of food or water. Blurred images began to move. The one in red, the person who healed him, started to pour more water down his throat. An action that hadn't been completed, as Sasuke's vision had begun to clear and his eyes remained trained on the one thing he hoped to never see again. Because carved on this girl's hitai-ate was Konoha's symbol. Whatever thoughts he may have had and the aftertaste of the pill were already long forgotten.

So they are here to kill me.

Adrenaline rushed through his body clearing any fogginess that had captured his mind. With startling quickness, Sasuke unsheathed his sword, swinging it diagonally upwards. The girl barely managed to jump out of the way. His sword had slashed the end of her shirt. Cloth gently drifted to the ground. A sharp contrast to the 'ungentle' emotions he was feeling at the moment.

A white haired boy's arms lengthened and shot forward as if made of slime, and wrapped around the male that had been kneeling next to him. His face had fear coating it like a viscous mask. The older male landed with a thud behind the white haired kid. Next to him, a blonde boy jumped into action; kunai in hand and shielding the lone female. The white haired boy remained rooted in place, maintaining a defensive position.

"Who are you?" he spit, with every bit of rage that fueled his world. His eyes glowered with killing intent. His kill list, which had been barren of children, was soon going to have four more names.

"Hey! Is that what you do to people who just saved your life?!" the blonde shouted.

"Shut up and answer the question, kid. Who are you and what do you want from me? I won't ask again." Without waiting for an answer, Sasuke sent a wave of chidori through his kusanagi. The sound of a thousand chirping birds filled the air. He still hadn't recovered enough to do much besides taijutsu. Even maintaining this chidori was taxing and using his sharingan would be a useless expenditure of chakra.

The blonde rushed forward. This reminded Sasuke of Naruto and how the deadlast used to rush into any situation without thinking. In fact, this boy not only shared his personality, but also had a shocking resemblance to his old teammate. He looked exactly like Naruto. No wait, he was just hallucinating. Perhaps his body wasn't as healed as he thought.

Sasuke spurred into action, uplifting a small puff of sand where the balls of his feet dug in as an anchor. Sasuke jabbed at the air in front of him, aiming right for the blonde's heart.

"Shadow clone Jutsu!" The blonde used the clone to swing his real body out of the way, landing on his feet a couple of meters away. Lightning shaped burn marks slithered up the boy's arm, where he wasn't fast enough to dodge.

The girl quickly followed suit, flashing in front of him immediately after the blonde's dodge. Her arm was reeled back. Sasuke spun on his right foot. Swinging the kusanagi at her, he managed to graze her thigh just before rolling away. Her fist met sand and with a loud bang, sand surged vertically in the air, leaving a fairly large crater in its wake. It was reminiscent of Sakura's own monstrous strength.

Sand slowly showered back down towards the battle field, succumbing to the laws of gravity, blocking his vision. Sasuke wasn't a sensor type ninja. The only thing he could sense was a buildup of chakra. So, that's what he looked for. Closing his eyes, Sasuke focused. It started small, chakra buildup so faint that to lesser ninja it wouldn't have even been detected. With urgency, the chakra signature grew larger and larger, ready to be released for whatever ninjutsu they were planning. It was strange. The signature felt much like his own, no darkness, just damaged, but with a hint of lightness there, once again reminding him of his old female teammate.

Sasuke ran towards the buildup, hoping to intercept the attack, lest his body fail him. The closer he ran, the more the air and sand heated. The smell of burning pine and mud filled the air. With sand still raining down, Sasuke didn't realise what he was running towards. Around him sand caught fire, feeding the katon.

Katon: a jutsu his father claimed to be the Uchiha specialty. You weren't considered an adult in the clan until you learnt it. Of course Sasuke had seen other people outside of the clan use it. But this particular style was so similar to the one Uchiha's had to learn.

Sasuke jumped narrowly missing the fire. But it was spreading so fast due to it using the sand as fuel. He twisted in the air just as the particles beside him ignited. He landed swiftly on his feet - only to be forced to move when a series of kunai punctured holes in the sand wall towards him. One stabbed close to his heart. His blood seeped down like a flowing river. It was too close to his heart.

In his weakened state all he could do was dodge. It was becoming annoying. It seemed as if he was far, far more tired and injured than he thought. Sasuke Uchiha couldn't lose to a bunch of genin. But he did nothing more to ensure his survival.

The sand had finally settled, revealing the battlefield and players. The white haired boy and older man now were much further than before and currently hid behind a stupidly decordated carriage. A fourth man, who hadn't engaged in battle, stood behind the white haired one, but in front of the other man. The blonde now stood rooted to his left, equidistant to the girl. In front of him, the girl stood panting, feet braced, and arm extended in front of her.

She did the katon?!

Shock overcame Sasuke. More and more this little girl reminded him of memories long forgotten and lives long lost.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked. Curious at who the little fiery spirit in front of him was.

The question was no longer filled with malice and her face softened. Not trusting or relaxed, just confused. She reminded him so much of his brother.

Itachi? Sasuke dropped to his knees. Exhaustion took over and finally claimed his body. Is this it? It wouldn't be so bad if it was. Everything that he set out to accomplish had been done. There was nothing left.

His vision blurred. He was no longer able to make out their faces, leaving behind only a blurring mess of colours, the only indication of who was who. It all felt too slow. Even as his body began to sway on the verge of collapsing forward, his ears picked up on one thing. One thing that brought everything back into sharp focus. But it was too late, as Sasuke's body succumbed to his limitations.

"Sarada… Uchiha…?"

Uchi.. Ha?