EDIT 8/19/21: I am currently in the process of revising and rewriting this story. This chapter has been edited to only focus on Sakura, and all of the Sasuke scenes in this chapter have been moved to what is now the new chapter two. The original chapter two is now chapter three. New parts have been added and altered to fit the changes I have planned for this fic.

[ This chapter has been edited/ fixed as of 8/19/21 ]

Eternal

Part One: Genesis

Chapter One:

Dreams

Feet pounded on the cobblestone floor. One foot after another, speed picking up as they tried to navigate through the dark, empty halls lit only by torches' flames. Their shadows followed behind them, cast onto the walls just as desperation's claws dug deeper into her skin, wanting to draw blood as it fed on her frantic want.

Suddenly, the pounding came to an abrupt halt as they felt the earth beneath them begin to shake and as they heard the evidence of an explosion hit nearby.

"What was that?" Naruto questioned, alarmed.

Yamato's eyes set in concentration. "That's Sai's chakra."

"And it's up ahead." She heard herself saying, as if it wasn't already obvious.

They began to run towards the epicenter of the explosion. The pounding continued, their speed echoing through the halls.

They were so close. She knew he was there. After years, she felt it. His presence. It was becoming more of a reality as the group stopped once again, finally sensing it.

She's momentarily sidetracked, however, seeing Sai at the end of the path, where part of the hideout was blown into a crater. He was staring up at something. Someone.

But before she could think through it, she felt nothing but anger rise into her throat, her teeth clenching at the mere sight of him. He was supposed to be on their side, the new addition to their team, and though she was optimistic at first, he had gone behind their backs to please whoever it was he was truly under. And that betrayal cut deep.

'There he is!' She didn't even attempt to stop herself, her fury getting the best of her. Her feet began moving on their own volition, fueled by her emotions and her want for answers from his own mouth while Naruto and Yamato remained standing, still stunned by the unforeseen blast.

"Sakura!" Yamato's voice rang throughout the remains of the hallways, his hand reaching out for her.

She ran fast, rapidly reaching Sai and roughly grabbing him by his collar. Her fingers, though covered by her gloves, grazed his skin, the sheer strength of her grasp, causing his head to pull back.

"Alright, enough! Tell us what you're really up to! How many times were you going to betray us before you-"

"Sakura."

She felt her heart almost stop, her eyes widening in complete shock and her chest tightening at the mere sound of his voice. It was as if he commanded her to. In that moment, she knew just how much power he held over her, even to this day, even with all that had transpired.

'That voice…'

It was deeper than she remembered. Of course, it was. She hadn't seen him in years. Yet despite the years between them, he spoke in the same way she remembered. He would say no greeting, everything he would say, he said immediately, straight to the point. She knew it was rude, never starting with a simple "Hello" or "Good day", but it made sense with his character, with his drive to go after his one ultimate goal. He was never one to sugarcoat. He was never one to beat around the bush. And even with just a simple call to her, her name upon his lips, she knew that had not changed, just as his goal remained unchanged.

But there was something else there within the nonchalant way he called out to her that she couldn't quite name.

She slowly turned her head, her hand loosening the fierce grip she had on Sai's collar as reality sank in.

After years of absence, she finally saw him again where he stood on top of the crater she now knew he created. It was one thing to hear him speak but seeing him in front of her made it too real. And with the sight of him came all the pain rushing to her in one blow, causing her chest to ache with the sudden onslaught of conflicting emotions crashing into her. She was happy to see him again, but hurt to see who he became. She was glad that after all these years, he was okay but still upset that he left.

She was angry at him. She was sad for him. She was all that and more towards herself for not being able to stop him the night he left. But despite all of that, she knew that with his mind made up, there was never a chance she could have stopped him.

His hair was longer, though the familiar way some of it stuck up in the back was still present. His white top was open, closed by the time it reached above his waist by a purple, rope-like belt that allowed him to secure a katana by his back.

He looked grown-up. He looked empty. He felt dangerous.

Their eyes met. Emerald green found itself hypnotized by the black onyx irises she knew so well. In that brief moment, she searched for something, something that would give her great relief if it remained within him, something that could tell her that there was a chance for him to return.

He was never as emotionless as he appeared to everyone. She and the rest of the team knew that deep down, he was someone who felt too much and didn't know how to deal with it all. Given his background and having to experience a tragedy firsthand at such a young age and the fact that he had no one dear to give him comfort and genuine care, no one could blame him. It was because of that one life-changing tragedy that he's as driven to his goal, that he's so deadset on it that he'd left the village.

With the years between them, she knew he'd have changed, but she's surprised at the things she still recognized that remained with him. She stared straight into his eyes and, right there, hidden from view, she felt that a part of the boy she knew still lingered.

She felt her heart begin to beat again, the moment her eyes found his felt like it had lasted a lifetime, yet it could not have lasted more than a second. In that short time, she was searching for a sign, a chance that things could change. And she did find it. That alone made their reunion less painful than it was.

There was hope, however small it was.

"It really is you." The words came out as a whisper, soft, in awe, and in fear.

But despite the familiarity, despite the chance of hope, she could not deny that altogether, he was not the same. Something darker, more sinister hid the soul she sought for when their eyes had met. All of it, she saw within those black irises staring back at her for the first time since that fateful night by Konoha's gates.

On the night she poured her heart out, all to wake up alone on a cold bench with the last thing she heard being a soft "thank you" as the cold night air chilled her all throughout the night until morning.

Complicated emotions welled up inside her. She knew there was going to be a change, and yet, the actuality of it felt surreal to her. He stood there, eyes penetrating hers with an almost blank stare. This was the man she loved. The man she still loved. This was the man he became.

"Sasuke-kun."

Sakura jerked awake, heart pounding, threatening to escape the confines of her chest, as beads of sweat rolled down from her forehead down to her cheeks. She placed a hand on her chest, feeling the vibrations of her rapidly beating heart as she willed herself to calm down.

She had just woken up and yet it felt like she just ran a few miles. Her muscles were sore, her limbs tired, and her breath labored. Her fingers trembled as she lowered them to her lap.

Rays of sunlight filtered through the blinds covering her window. Her eyes traced the lines of light on her ceiling as she urged herself to put her mind back to reality. She leaned her back onto the bed frame, letting one long sigh escape her lips.

'Another one?' She thought to herself, as her heart rate went back to normal. She'd been having odd dreams all her life, but this one stood out from the rest. It was visceral, affecting her to her core.

It felt so real.

He felt real.

She sat up, mind reeling. These odd dreams were nothing new in her life, the first one she remembered having when she was four. At first, they came sporadically. The dreams would come every other week, or there would be a long stretch of time before another one would hit. But as time progressed, it became a constant. From a few dreams a year when it started to the point where these dreams appeared almost every night as soon as she laid her head on her pillow and closed her eyes as she let herself drift into slumber.

And as they became constant, the way these dreams affected her have changed too. They were never like this.

These images usually happened in flashes. One moment, she would see herself saving lives in a war-torn battlefield, then out of nowhere, as if it's a quick scene transition in a movie, she saw a younger version of herself in class surrounded by faces that were vaguely familiar but didn't have much of a lasting impression on her.

But one moment that she found her subconscious always going to was one she couldn't understand. She didn't hear voices, but she felt her lips move, words exit her mouth as the soft evening breeze moved her hair in its direction. The moon was full, and she felt the cool night air hit her face as tears refused to stop falling from her eyes. She had no idea why she was crying. She had no idea why it felt so painful. All she did know was that whoever was a few feet away with his back turned toward her was important. Important to her.

'I guess that someone was him.'

She never knew just staring at someone straight in the eyes would cause such an effect on her. The way he looked at her was almost painful. She saw the recognition in his eyes, but the way they looked blank, empty, was foreign. And although the way he looked at her was almost lifeless, it was intense, too intense to be made up by a figment of her imagination. Yet she knew it had to be.

Tonight's dream was the first she had actually heard people speaking. They were always as silent as they were short. But she knew that dreams aren't real. They're just fantasies created when one's brain is active when one's asleep, but she didn't think it was possible to have the same type of dreams, in the same instances and settings, and in this case, in different perspectives.

That dream was also the first time she felt herself moving, felt herself running, experiencing these things firsthand rather than watching it as a bystander.

Maybe the stress had finally gotten to her. Had her mind resorted to such fantastical scenarios to shift her mind from work and school to something unbelievably and exciting to add something other than school papers and labwork into her brain?

She shook her head. 'Or maybe the stress is making me delusional.' She thought, blaming her odd internal escapades to the recent extra work she had been doing with her university research team.

She glanced at the clock on her bedside table and saw that it was about time to get ready to depart for the airport. Stretching out her arms above her and giving out a sound of satisfaction as she felt her body start to wake, she left her bed.

Her room was small, but it was enough for a twenty-one-year-old medical student on a budget. She found the one-bedroom apartment near her university and thought its location perfect and the price doable. She didn't need anything fancy, nor could she afford it. Plus, she was only ever in her apartment to sleep, eat, and shower. The rest of her time was spent on campus. Whether it was in the research lab, the library, or in a classroom, most of her days were focused on doing everything she could to prove her worth in the medical field.

From the beginning, she knew medicine was the right fit for her. Ever since she was a child, her heart was always set out on being a doctor. Her parents were wholeheartedly with her on her aspirations in life, especially since the pay for such a job was great, and her determined nature was a great fit for such a taxing occupation.

The pay for her education was the only thing standing in her way, which was why she dedicated so much of her high school years working part-time and trying to get all the scholarships she could get before graduating. Her hard work paid off and she was granted a full ride to the school she was in now.

Sakura turned the TV on as she walked to her bathroom, hearing the voices of the morning news anchors drift into the bathroom. Staring at herself in the mirror, she touched a strand of her oddly colored hair.

Her parents had no explanation as to why her hair color was the shade it was. Nobody knew why. And although she was at the receiving end of taunts growing up in Japan, she grew to love its uniqueness and stopped trying to hide it. Though, she wondered when the time would come where she'd be forced to do so seeing as most would deem such a color unacceptable in the workplace.

"The outbreak from a small village in Northern Japan is under control, says the Japanese government," the female news anchor's voice broke her out of her reverie. "The rural area has been quarantined and no one apart from the medical research team acquired is allowed access within the range. Top-tier medical specialists such as Dr. Tsunade Senju have acquired a generous donation from an anonymous source for new, state-of-the-art technology in order to study and counter the disease. With more on this, we go to Cameron Michaels in Hokkaido, Japan."

"Here you go," said her professor, handing her a special itinerary for Sakura regarding things she will be missing in her absence. "And good luck. You've gotten quite the opportunity here, Ms. Haruno."

Sakura smiles, unsure of how else to respond with such a statement. It's true. It was quite a unique opportunity. "Thank you."

She'll have quite the catching up to do once she returns, but that's to be expected. She's to be gone for a while.

There was a short line of students behind her, waiting to talk to the professor about things regarding today's lecture. As she walked past them, a few eyes followed her as she left.

"Psst, what did the prof mean about that?" A student asked the person behind him.

"Ah, you heard that? Yeah, apparently she got approved to be with some bigshot medical research team for a while."

"For real? She got connections or something?"

"Don't know. I think she's just an undergrad."

"In this class?"

She had expected her mother to call, so when her phone rang as she walked to Dr. Villanueva's office, she knew exactly who it was.

"What do you mean you're going to Japan for a month?" Her mom yelled through the phone. "And to Hokkaido? Didn't you know there's some sort of disease in the air there?"

Sakura sighed. Perhaps she had it coming for only texting her about it just last night when she knew she was fast asleep. Her original plan was not to tell her parents at all, but she knew, one way or another, they'd find out.

"Sakura Haruno, why aren't you speaking?"

"Mom, I know you're worried-"

"Worried? Of course, I am! You're heading into somewhere dangerous. Who's allowing a twenty-one-year-old that's not even in med school yet to join something like this?"

She had a point. In fact, Sakura wondered the same thing. It sounded way too good to be true, and she couldn't blame her mother for being suspicious. But the papers were legit, and the offer was given to her by her own professor, Dr. Villanueva, who was also going to participate in the research trip.

Why a doctor like herself became an undergraduate professor instead of a med school professor is something she questioned herself, but it was because of that that she was given this opportunity. And as absurd as it was, she just couldn't bring herself to decline.

This could be her chance. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and quite the addition to her résumé. It was also the chance to get to be around some of the best minds in medicine, to gain experience, and to live the life she wanted for her future self.

"I'll be fine," she replied calmly, trying to ease her mother's worries.

"Sakura," she hears her mother sigh. "I know you're determined, but you don't have to speed through the process."

"The research team is well equipped. I'm telling you I'll be fine. And I can't just throw an opportunity like this aside, mom. My flight is today."

"You really told us at the last minute." She could tell that her mother's frustrated. "Why are you so stubborn?"

"I got that from you, you know."

"I guess." Another sigh. "Be careful. I don't know why, Sakura, but I have a bad feeling about this."

She'll be fine. Sakura, herself, will make sure of it. Though, she would be lying if there wasn't a small part of her that was afraid.

Through the glass of the plane window was the art of the sky, the clouds that brought infinite images that could be formed through one's imagination, soft-looking and inviting, a beautiful sight to behold. She stared lovingly at the view while listening to the soft singing voice in her ear, the music matching the sight before her, making her feel wistful, light, her head, literally, above the clouds.

She felt a tap on her shoulder. She took out an earbud and looked at her professor. Her auburn hair was somewhat a mess. Then again, when was it not? Her brown eyes still looked dreary from her nap.

"I forgot to ask," she said before letting out a yawn, "did you read through all of the briefings?"

Sakura gave her a nod. "Yes, ma'am." She took out the other earbud and reached for the bag she placed underneath her seat. Unzipping it after putting it on her lap, she grabbed the manila folder she needed and began to flip to a few pages.

"The patients in Maisō have been experiencing severe pneumonia." On precaution, she would never have spoken about it in public, but seeing as they were given the luxury of being seated in first class, gifted to them by the research's mysterious benefactor, filled only by fellow medics and researchers. Still, she spoke in whispers. "They go into septic shock that eventually reach their brains, causing them to have to go into a medically induced coma."

"The public has been told that it's some old disease," Dr. Villanueva shook her head. "But it seems like it's something completely new."

To this, Sakura tilted her head, brow raised. "What makes you say that?"

"The authorities never say the truth until it's too late, kid." She leaned back on her chair. "You're a smart woman, I know you were thinking the same. Hell, your bullseye instincts are one of the reasons why I gave the team the request you join in."

Sakura was thinking that. It seemed easy enough to pass off as an old disease, but there was this feeling she had that told her something was amiss. First off, no photos of the patients were released to the public. Usually, it'd be all over the news, but everyone's been closed off from the site. Granted, this could just be another precaution, but journalists usually found some way to get in.

And it definitely wasn't plain pneumonia, or else the patients wouldn't be comatose. Septic shock occurred when chemicals fighting infection by triggering inflammatory reactions got released into the bloodstream. So the old disease was infecting them? If it were old, the public would have been notified about what it was by now, and vaccines and treatments could be done. But it was quiet. Unless this was a jacked-up version of it. It still didn't explain the media silence. Was this a new influenza then?

She hadn't noticed that Doctor Villanueva went back to sleep, eyes covered by her sleeping mask. She looked up, eyes closed in concentration. 'I'll find out soon enough.' Staring at the papers on her lap, she picked them up, skimming through them. It hadn't happened until now that reading the small village's name gave her this reaction.

Maisō.

Somehow, it unsettled her.

Notes:

And here is chapter one! Don't worry, more will be revealed as we go on, but yes, Sasuke's and Naruto's parents are dead. It will also be explained why Sakura, who's still just a young medical student, was allowed to take part in this research trip. Oh, and don't worry. Team Seven is a major part of this story.

This fic will most likely update monthly seeing as I'm in my last semester of high school and so many things are happening in my life all at once, so I have to prioritize those things first.

Comments are welcome!