Prologue
"NO! You can't do that, you'll die!"
"It's the only way, Sakura, I'm sorry."
"Don't start that sorry crap with me. Naruto is dead. They're all dead. There's no point anymore. You don't have to do this! Don't leave me again Sasuke, please!" Her voice was coarse through all the screaming and crying. She could barely breathe with all the smoke in her lungs, dust and debris stuck to her face because of salty tears that were yet to stop falling from her eyes. She had no idea how he could look at her with such a caring smile.
"Either way, I deserve it, don't I? For what I've done to you, and the village."
"That was when we were genin, Sasuke."
"That's besides the point. Naruto did his part. It's time for me to do mine." He shot her the brightest smile that he could muster— which was, in fact, the happiest smile she'd seen on him, ever. Just when she tried to open her mouth to stutter out just another word, even though she inwardly knew it would fall on deaf ears, he stumbled over to her ignoring the scorching hot rocks below them, and burning whatever was left on the soles of his feet. He rose two fingers to Sakura's rosy face.
"I just.. I just wish we were under different circumstances." She flinched at the sudden tap on her forehead but before she could process anything, the kunoichi witnessed him swiftly leap through the air, jumping on Kaguya and sealing them both, as well as zestu. Leaving her behind, again. An unsettling silence engulfed her, and surprisingly, it wasn't because she was trapped in a scorching hot lava dimension with no apparent way of getting out, but because she was.. alone. Absolutely alone. Not a single person was alive. She dropped to her knees in shock as she was trying to process all the events of today, this war, and her entire life, but that was Sakura came to the realization that, some of these memories... weren't her memories at all. She scoffs, not bothering to try and figure out why he'd even do such a thing. Was he trying to make her feel better by passing on his trauma? Did he want her to experience the same loneliness he felt, as if she hadn't experienced that and beyond? What ever he was trying to do, it wasn't going to matter in the next few minutes. Nothing was going to matter. Not their attempts to kill Madara, not the alliance, not even the villagers— all of their efforts, blood, sweat, and tears were all going to be in vain. And what was she supposed to do? Sulk in sympathy over her teammates childhood trauma?
Sakura finally came back to her senses and took up the sword that Sasuke had left behind. Tipping the the sharp end to her chest, she took one last deep breath.
'I'll join you guys soon, don't worry.' And then.. well she died.
THE END
ROLL CREDITS
KIDDING, CONTINUE^^
Or at least that's what she thought— which was true, but apparently waking up in front of a damn god was also apart of the ordeal. She adjusted her eyes to the dim space they were in, still wincing at the pain that she had inflicted on herself. Finally being able to see, Sakura fully opened her eyelids to process the floating being in front of her. Pale, grayish skin, eyes that imitated that of an onion—eyes she's only ever seen on the man who killed every person she knew and loved. She thought he was just a myth, but here he is, standing— no, floating not too far in front of her, the one and only Sage of Six Paths.
"Are you. . .H-Hagaromo Otutski?!"
"Calm thyself, little one. Or as one would say in such times like yours, chill out." He spoke in a monotone voice, and though his mouth was visibly moving, it seemed like his face didn't even twitch. He obviously didn't notice that his entire mood wasn't helping the situation Sakura was in at all.
"Uhh, yes sir Otutski-sama sir." She bows her head frantically, not knowing what to do. She forgot for just a moment that she was standing in the middle of life and death. No pressure!
"As you know your world is destroyed," Sakura felt her eyes starting to water at the memory , even so, she looked up with a hint of hope lighting up her jade green eyes.
"But.. an earthling like you somehow created a jutsu defying the law of time and the human race itself; so, you can reverse time to repair conflict and whatnot. However, if you are to travel back too far then your mind and soul will be lost in the wrinkles of time and you will cease to exist." he stated bluntly.
". . . . . .EHHHHHH????!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flashback
"Uh, may I ask what you're doing?" Hashirama Senju, the first hokage, in all his armless glory stood clueless in front of a crouching Tobirama, who seemed to be quite concentrated as he was carefully carving seals into his three-pronged kunai. The rest of the remains of the hokages were lying on the dust as their bodies were slowly flaking away, disabling their speech.
"Trying to save the world." Tobirama raised the kunai, scanning for imperfections. It had many, but time wasn't on their side so he dismissed them quickly. "Now for a name."
"Hmm.. how about.. Glitter Gleaming Mega Time vortex: Friendship Time Manipulation, Style Teleportix! Yes, that's perfect!"
"..no." The poor shodaime sunk into a depressive state. Standing up, the younger Senju finished the seals on the kunai and raised it in the air, muttering a few words under his 'breath'.
'If this doesn't work.. at least I tried... we tried.' Activating the nameless jutsu, he was transferred to the closest— or the otherwise last— active chakra network. He caught a glimpse of a girl with a sword to her chest but it seemed as if she was too dolorous and mournful to notice him back. Since Tobirama has died already, it didn't take long for his soul to be pass on with Sakura's, but little did he know that his incomplete jutsu had already taken a toll on the both of them, for the better or for the worst.
End of flashback
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Do you refuse? If so, I have no problem and you may-"
"No, no, it's not like that at all. But. ." She directed her gaze towards the ground-but-not-really-ground in embarrassment for a split second then looking the god straight in the eyes.
".. It's just that I don't think I'm powerful enough to change and protect everyone as much I want to."
"Very well, your assistance will be granted."
Wow, I'm so relieved. Thanks, makes me feel a lot better.
"If that's all then, good luck."
"Wait, what time-" Sakura suddenly felt her body being ripped apart and the space around her warped from mahogany to a blinding white within a matter of seconds.
The agonizing pain finally settled down to tolerable level after what had seemed like years (which it probably was,) leaving the kunoichi with her thoughts and the blazing light that could potentially blind her. It reminded her of Naruto, he always had that bright smile, a smile that if it could, would blind your eyes if it had the chance. And eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes.
'Why is everyone so obsessed with eyes?'
This was a question that always went through her mind, even during the war, she had always heard these stories of young uchiha's eyes being stolen, sometimes at birth, but no one ever knew where they went or at least what happened to children. It made her heart ache for them. And if she can, Sakura swears she'll do everything in her power to save Uchihas from what they went through, even if it kills her.
She was pulled out of her trance when she felt the excruciating pain started to rile up again, signaling that the jutsu was soon going to end...
But something just didn't feel right.
Sakura's body started to feel tired.. and her chakra was being drained. And if she wasn't delirious before, she sure was now. To make matters worse, she felt chains and shackles bound her wrists and ankles.
'This.. can't... be... good..'
She felt her eyes roll to the back of her head until everything went black.