Darkest Before Dawn

Poison

   Sakura was sorting through her father's books when she came across one titled Virus et Remedium. She flipped through it curiously and discovered a goldmine. There were over thousands of pages packed with poisons and antidotes. They had the how-to's, the best way to administer them, and the places you could find the ingredients.

   "Thank you for being so interested in medicine, Kizashi..." she murmured. Sakura flipped back all the way to the very beginning to where the simplest concoctions were shown. The first one she read over was some sort of medicine that could slow down your pulse to make it seem non-existent. It kind of resembled the Cantarella poison Friar Lawrence created in the fantasy romantic tragedy Sakura read a while back called Romeo and Juliet. 

   She stood up with a wide yawn and stepped out of her house, her book tucked safely under her arm. The nearest herbal store was about twenty minutes away, unfortunately, but it was well worth the walk. It became even more enjoyable when she met Itachi about halfway there.

   "Good morning, Itachi-san! Did you just return from your mission?"

   He nodded once and fell in step beside her.

   "I returned an hour ago. I know that there are no classes today, but where exactly are you going?" he asked.

   "An medicinal store. I need some herbs for a poison I'm creating, and if I don't find it there, I might need to go out of the village to get some."

   Itachi was curious. Without a doubt, Sakura was incredibly strong and intelligent as a shinobi and a person. If you added the sudden interest in poison and medicine, maybe even medical techniques in the near future, she could truly be someone unstoppable. Someone like... someone like...

   Tsunade Senju.

   He winced at the thought of it. Sakura and the Sannin had an uncanny resemblance in their skills, interests, and way of thinking. It pained him slightly to think that Sakura would one day become a missing-nin like Tsunade, but he didn't think it would ever happen. Sakura Haruno as a rogue shinobi? The idea was absurd.

   He would never let Sakura become a rogue.

   He could never lose her.

   The sixteen year old made a promise to himself as he watched the girl pick out various herbs from the impressive inventory of the medicinal store. If the day ever came that Sakura had the slightest thought of leaving the village, he would use every once of his power to make her stay. Itachi only hoped that the day would never come.

   Unfortunately for Itachi, that day had already passed.

NEW STORY THAT IS NOT A NARUTO FANFIC:

AFTERLIFE (Kuroko no Basuke; Kuroko no Basket; Kuroko's Basketball)

   At the end of their high school days, everyone moved on from basketball. Kuroko Tetsuya, forced to change as well, turned his back on the sport and vowed himself never to touch that orange ball again and went off to college. Five years later, as everyone else discovers in horror, Kuroko definitely wasn't the person he was before.

   There was no more polite boy with no presence.

    But a badboy radio personality that doesn't take anything lightly.

   "Ku-Kuroko?! What happened to you?!!"

   "I grew up, jackass. What did you expect?"