Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was sequentially a part of a thousand occurrences in every alternate lapse of time.

People die all the time, as is the reality in every creature no matter how much they adapt — there is essentially no eternity or hereafter.

Everything comes to an end.

It's a matter of fact and no mere assumption times go and wait for no one — something that is known by anyone worth their salt and grime. Time is gold, but no gold can assume to cost time, it is indefinitely an entirety of its own — that exists for one purpose. 

To move forward.

There is nothing more beautiful than for a new life to take form, and finally for it to make do with its purpose — it is synthetically possible after all to continue a journey when the ink on the pen wasn't quite spent.

"She's perfect" 

Mebuki spent all night screaming her voice hoarse, she even for all her brave front was afraid — afraid she would die on a woman's battlefield. They told her it would be worth it, they told her all the pain would be nothing right away. It would be an experience most women normally do. They told her many things, but they didn't tell her how it was to feel the sensation of being ripped on the inside. They didn't tell her possibilities were so large that she wouldn't even watch her child grow or have the chance to embrace them if she, for just one single moment of lack of luck — everything would be over.

And she wouldn't have the chance to regret anything because she would have died .

 Mebuki in her tired body but raging thoughts vows to have that instructor on pre-birth beg for mercy under her heel after all of this.

Dark green eyes, the colour of foliage shadowed behind the sun peer at the bundle in the arms of her soulmate. That damn instructor was wrong in almost everything she sputters out on Mebuki and several pregnant women — but she's right about one thing, not that she'll ever admit it.

She feels the tingle of warmth that courses through her deep, deeper than the skin or bones but on her soul . Mebuki slacks and relaxes, her head calming down its derailing thoughts because he's happy , and it was something she would burn the world for

She's right on one thing, It's all worth it.

"What are you going to name her?" asks a smooth baritone voice, Kizashi was looking at her and holding their child

Her pupils flutter for a moment

 "How would I decide if you wouldn't bring her near you buffoon" 

It came out snappy but with no real edge and Kizashi only grins sheepishly before walking to her and carefully handing it down to the sleeping infant.

Their fingers brushed in their wrist, were symbols that existed just for them, hers were interlocked hearts above a bud of a flower — his, on the other hand, was intertwined circles, an eternal loop.

She met him as a child barely knowing what those symbols meant. But when she met him she just knew a vague, intercepting fact.

Maybe it wasn't love at first, but it must be. You don't dwell on something you already have — the same goes for Mebuki.

It felt right, like a precisely solved puzzle.

She has pink hair — their child. A fuzzy top of it in her tiny head, paler than Kizashi. And she was sure this time this was love. There was no act of hesitation in not knowing something, it is what it is.

"Sakura" she softly murmurs

For the bud in her wrist that was yet to bloom, for the eternity on her lover's wrist. All things die but yet some things just keep coming back, more beautiful than it has been.

A warm sensation of a kiss being planted on her forehead — he knew, of course, he knew. 

"Welcome to the world Sakura"

Sakura's last memory was a bright light engulfing her, the sound of crackled lightning — the cold wind that brushes against the nape of his neck. The sound of Naruto's scream.

But it was such a bright welcoming light that embraced and Sakura willingly fell to it. Her shishou certainly didn't raise a coward but she learns well, and Sakura learns most astronomically from Senju Tsunade.

She only felt the wet sensation and the same cold air, the same bright light that welcomed her, but for a second it was a painful experience like a realisation tugging at the back of her mind. 

Then suddenly everything burns — it felt like being submerged in boiling water, the pain searing and making her forget. Sakura wants to scream but she can't, she couldn't make any sound — she couldn't move her limbs.

There were loud noises in her ears, blurry giants and converged colours. 

Everything hurts—

—she wants it to stop

It was a painful process of blacking out and being awakened again through torture. She couldn't think straight — maybe that was the reason, it wanted to make her — stop her from thinking, stop her from remembering. 

But Haruno Sakura was tired, tired of the pain — tired of fighting for reasons.

For the third time, the light came again and—

"Welcome to the world Sakura"

—Haruno Sakura forgets .

It was in the way her gut rolled in uncomfortable lurches, her breath hitching telling her that there was something wrong .

Mebuki bring a finger to the tiny nose 

Nothing

She leans down aligning her ear with her daughter's chest, wanting to her something — 

Nothing  

Mebuki leans away and calls out wide-eyed and panicked.

"Kizashi" her voice trembling a little, Kizashi grew alarmed by this 

"What's wrong, are you uncomfortable somewhere? I can take Sakura-" 

Mebuki's body was already trembling by now her hold shaking "I-It's Sakura, Kizashi! She's—she's not breathing ! Sakura's not breathing!" 

Kizashi then runs forcibly opening the door of their ward and shouts outside for medic 

"Haruno-san we would be taking—"

They took Sakura from her and Mebuki trembled with the lack of weight in her arms, she tries to say something because she needs to, Sakura was fine just a moment ago 

"I just held her then she just—just she's just, there's no air and heartbeat  I-I"

Tears went down streaking her face and as the medic that takes Sakura away grew farther than Mebuki can reach out, Kizashi hugs her.

They told her what caused her body to shut down was because of her soulmates. As Sakura just does not have one or the very rare cases two — but she has six of them. Two of them are charred remains on an otherwise smooth skin, signifying their deaths.

They put her in a monitor for the time being as having this kind of phenomenon was downright unheard of.

"Will she be alright?" she asked, particularly no one "Can she be brought home?" 

An arm wrapped around her, familiar and soothing. She nuzzled her face unto his neck reaching for comfort as they both stood before their glass-encased child.

"She will" 

She knows it's not only her he was convincing, but also himself.

Come dawn four people woke up with a feeling of a metal rod tattooing something on their skin, it was both hot and cold sapping their strength as it finished its form

They say soulmates transcend through time, and it does with two boys gasping with pain.

All of them have something similar. A crescent moon reflecting a cherry blossom tree, in full bloom and vibrance. In its intricacy, it seems to sway in the non-existent breeze.

Chapter Text

Something doesn’t have to be rhythmic to invoke a sense of entanglement. Maybe it was nothing peripheral at first, but things connected, but didn’t meet to intersect, bound to go awry.

Haruno Sakura met her first soulmate at five with a scuffed knee and the tips of her hair burnt and already fought off the hold of the pins, which her mother had spent a long time managing. It was the annual festival in Konoha, and Sakura was dressed to the nines, her kimono — a newly added batch to her growing dresser, and a new set of hair ornaments that she couldn’t care less about when being distracted by yet another dichotomy.

“Hi mister, you really needed to have your eyes checked.”

They escaped her mouth before she could stop them — but then again many things escaped Sakura before she could manage them thoroughly. It endlessly worries Mebuki. After all, she had only this one daughter, an amalgamation of bored ingenuity, negligence, and a raucous tendency for pilgrimage.

Not really the best mix, but Mebuki can’t really choose what sort of child would form out of her and her husband — better to deal with what they have. The teen whom Sakura had just called out blinked slowly at her. He was incredibly tall, so much so that Sakura had to crane her neck to see his expression — or what little of it was revealed through his customary movements.

But Sakura was more than curious about the meaning behind every subtle motion of his actions. And he was fast too, Sakura noted inwardly, as he suddenly bent a knee to bring himself to her height. He had a warm smile painted on his face, one that looked as if it were drawn from a portrait — so perfectly carved from porcelain, it seemed undeserving of the populace’s gaze.

“I’ll take you to your mother.”

Is what he said, voice the barest hint of silver and the texture of silks. Sakura could vaguely hear the crowd of people as they went on their merry way, enjoying the festivities as much as they could — as she should too, but her senses were occupied for a moment with tingles in her nape. Of the drawing, she couldn’t quite see even no matter how much she bends gravity.

Her mother tells her it was a circle with three bisecting lines. Sakura thought it sounded boring and not that creative. Mebuki admonished her after that, telling her that every line or blotch in a mark has its meaning; they symbolize her soulmate’s life — their entire existence.

“I don’t know where my Kaa-san was,” Sakura admits, without a whiff of concern.

Her nape continued to tingle, and Sakura reached out to scratch it — a challenging feat given her current outfit, which could have strangled her if it were sentient. Well, I think I can help you with that, would you mind?" He stood up, with Sakura reaching only to his hip. He leaned down, opened his arms, but didn’t lift her yet — as if he was waiting for her permission. Sakura nodded, more than glad to be carried. She kicked the air with her hurting feet as warmth encased her, shielding her from the cold spring breeze. The tingle disappeared too, and Sakura happily tightened her hold on the teen’s neck, not noticing how he was still for a moment before eventually relaxing.

Drowsiness hit Sakura like a tempting lull as she dozed on a stranger’s shoulder. “We’re here, Haruno-san.”

“Ish—Sssakuraa,” she could only slur.

Maybe he said something, but Sakura couldn’t hear it anymore, utterly immersed in the dream of sands that obstructed her vision.

“I’m sorry you have to do this, Uchiha-san,” Mebuki apologetically says as she gently takes her daughter, who was slumped on Uchiha’s shoulder. Perhaps it was her imagination, but she felt the teen’s grip tighten, his muscles coiling as if he were anticipating an attack.

They were quite far from the crowd, as Mebuki’s initial intention had been to wait for Kizashi, who had brought Sakura with him. Who could have expected that Sakura would seize the chance to escape?

“It’s no trouble, Haruno-san, in hindsight, I should be grateful.” Mebuki pats the back of Sakura’s head as she frowns at his choice of words. The teen removes the band covering his entire lower arm, revealing a tattoo that explicitly depicts a crescent moon, its incomparable elegance reflecting a fully blooming cherry blossom tree — the namesake of her daughter. An understanding expression dawned on her face.

Mebuki carefully looked at the teen, critical eyes narrowing. The Uchiha were not as respected by the civilian residents as they once were, their actions during the Kyuubi incident adding fuel to the flames of doubt. If it was discovered that her daughter was tied to an Uchiha — Mebuki didn’t know how she would react; perhaps she would commit an act of defiance for the first time in years. Her daughter deserved all the happiness in the world, and Mebuki would not allow meddling busybodies with no association to them to interfere.

Her eyes widened slightly when the aforementioned Uchiha bowed deeply before her. “I wouldn’t wish for anything but, — I would like to ask for permission to be… part of her life, if just—,” Mebuki cuts him off.

“How could I prohibit it?” Mebuki sighed, pushing him slightly upward with her other hand. “It’s not my place, Uchiha-san, but then I couldn’t continue to call my daughter’s soulmate that, could I?”

“I apologise, I’m Uchiha Itachi,” so formal, Mebuki mused.

Sakura whimpered in her arms, and Mebuki caressed her hair, which she now noticed was askew. The air was getting cold, and it was better to wait for her husband at home in this state. After making up her mind, Mebuki regarded Itachi with a gleam in her green eyes.

“Would you mind having Karaage for dinner, Itachi-san?”

Itachi blinked at this; it was a straightforward invitation for him and a chance to determine if he was worthy of their child. “I won’t,” he can only reply, causing Mebuki to purse her lips, withholding a laugh.

“Then you might need to ask for permission from Mikoto; she might not take it well that I’ve invited her son for dinner without her consent.” Mebuki winks at him, and walks away, humming a melody in a shushing motion to a mumbling Sakura.

Itachi stood there for a long moment, his silhouette mixing with the shadows of the trees. Still surprised that she knew his mother, he shook his head and walked away. He had to prepare for dinner, and his time was limited.

“A dinner with your soulmate?” Mikoto repeated as if in a trance before her gaze hardened as she looked at her eldest. “We need to have a new Kimono for you, Yori-san; perhaps he could have something of your size. And of course, flowers! And gifts! — how could I forget?”

“Listen, Itachi-chan, the ones you’re going to court will be the parents for now. Mebuki’s daughter is the same age as Sasuke, isn’t she? We will need to find something suitable.”

Mikoto was in a whirlwind of planning, and the men and a boy in the house tactfully kept silent, knowing better than to speak if they had nothing useful to say.

“Can I go with Nii-san?” piped Sasuke.

“Now is not the time, Sasu-chan, Itachi was directly invited — soon, perhaps, we will be the ones to invite them. There will be a considerable amount to discuss.”

Fugaku only grunts at this, flipping an unread chapter of a report disguised as a book. Mikoto disappears into a corner and reappears, dressed up and with a bag in hand.

“Itachi-chan, come with me; you will be needed in the selection of gifts.” She was already walking out the door, and Itachi stood up to follow her, poking Sasuke in the forehead as he passed by.

“And Sasu-chan, do the homework that Kouda-san gave you!” Sasuke pouts at this.

With that, both mother and son disappeared.

Sasuke still moping at the thought of doing the homework that his tutor gave him, but couldn't ignore the order from his mother and looked up hopefully to his father

"Tou-san can you help me with my homework?" 

Fugaku regards him silently

"An Uchiha should know how to do things unaided" 

After saying that he also stood and walked in the direction of his study, leaving Sasuke to sulk at the dinner table

Sakura blinked at the whirling sands, she looked at her feet, the ground was all sand, and they glowed golden yellow and pale brown. She can hear the sound of metal hitting metal, similar to when her father sharpens their kitchen knives.

It was not long before Sakura scrunched her nose at the smell, and in a blink, the golden sands weren't that golden anymore — crimsons covered them like vibrant blooming flowers, like a blanket covering the seemingly endless planes.

There was the tingle again but now it's on her arm, it was persistent and as if wanting her to do something. 

And stood several miles away from her was a boy with that same vibrant hue on the ground, his fingers were raised in weird curves, but Sakura couldn't see anything on his fingers.

She knew what the drawing on her arm looked like, her mother said it was a scorpion holding a thread with its tail. But Sakura thought it looked like a cockroach at first, not really a cockroach but maybe its cousin. Her arm feels like being tapped with a pinprick of needles — it doesn't exactly hurt but Sakura still frowns at the sensation.

Maybe she needs to hug him too? 

The sand swept like a curtain between them and went the boy with it.

Sakura wakes up to the sight of her elephant plushie, hugging her — or Sakura hugging him. It doesn't matter which it was.

She found her mother making a complete murder in the kitchen and her father on the table with a plethora of dishes in small plates, chopsticks in hand with a serious look in his commonly guileless face.

"How's the Karaage, is there something wrong or did I forget anything to put on it?—ANSWER ME KIZASHI!" 

Her blonde hair was in a severe bun, not a strand standing and her expression looked harried and nervous at the slow reply of her husband

Kizashi slowly put down his chopsticks and looked at no one "This is a dish befitting to serve the gods" 

Mebuki exhaled a loud sigh of relief at that. Sakura only looked at them weirdly and shook her head before making her way to Kizashi

"Tou-san" Sakura tugs at his shirt 

He was still in a reverie as he replied to Sakura "Yes sweetheart" 

"What's with Kaa-san?" As if summoned out from the realm inhabitation Kizashi leaned down and picked Sakura to put into his lap

"Remember the guy that found you at the festival?" 

Sakura mulled it over. 

"I'll take you to your mother"

Sakura's face brightens "The guy that has problems with his eyes!" 

Kizashi frowns " Problems with his eyes huh " He mutters under his breath then places stern eyes on Sakura 

"Sakura" She flinched at this, face contorting 

"don't ever separate from me or your mother again when we are going to places with large people. " He paused

"What if you got lost? Or been taken away by strangers. What if we won't ever see you again?"  

"I won't do it again" Sakura can only meekly say. She's not afraid of being taken though, but the image of never seeing her parents again made her tear up.

It felt really cold, and painful — like she experienced it before and didn't want to know that feeling again. The clouded taste of salt on her tongue, the indistinct sound of lightning, and the muffled scent of ink and rain.

"I promise" her voice an echo of finality. Her father only holds her close, his warmth seeping through her clothes. It doesn't feel enough but for now, it is.

"Sakura, have you washed your hands?"

"Yes Kaa-san" Sakura dutifully replies as she obediently puts her hand on her lap while sitting in front of the table

"Kizashi! Take off that horrendous band on your hair" 

There was a knock on the door and Mebuki looked down for any imperfection to herself and her daughter and husband, then finally nodded in satisfaction. 

Sakura could only hear her mother's warm 'Welcome Itachi-san' before the same guy that lifted her to the festival entered with her mother

Sakura brightened at the sight of him feeling a rush of the dazed haze of sensation coursing through her but she didn't dare open her mouth, as her mother was still having her piercing gaze at Sakura.

It would be a long night indeed 

Sakura didn't get to say a single word to their guest that night, but a brief flicker of his stares seemed to convey a message entirely and Sakura was a little happy with that —thoughts of crimson clouds and bleeding rain seeped through the plunging portion of mind, even though she didn't know exactly why .

Every tilt and indication he made in each of her smiles made her feel she was floating in clouds — which is stupid and silly . But she couldn't erase the image of obsidian in his eyes, they were so dark, hypnotising in its mystery and she was being pulled into it — which is ridiculous. It has been a while since she was eight or twelve and she's passed this pace…

But she's five — not eight or twelve 

Sakura vigorously shakes her head, she's maybe thinking too much.

She lies down and chases out the cold that seems to enter her, with her thick blanket and closes her eyes.

She dreams of moving pinwheel eyes and red clouds in black clothing. She dreams of a man with cracks on his face and solemnity that he seems to wear like a brand of clothing

"Next time, don't put your cores where hearts were supposed to be" She just manages to blurt out as she sees the familiar shade of red again, sakura regards the red-haired boy with golden sands swirling in his eyes and mind that could have been immortal, in another way.

He was older than her — maybe he was double her age, but he was a boy . That, she is sure.

He stopped what he was doing before continuing, he was ignoring her completely which incensed Sakura a little.

Sakura looked closely at what he was doing. He was sitting fiddledling with what she could recognize was a large puppet, not like the small ones sold in shops but this one was bigger than Sakura.

She grew bored with watching and not doing anything so Sakura drew down a rough outline of a seal, even if she didn't know where she saw it from — she thinks that it was meant to strengthen something or support it — she didn't remember.

Maybe she can take up drawing too, looking down at the mess of doodles she did with a small wood splinter she found, the ground cemented but she could still make out a few lines — her companion didn't voice any dissatisfaction so they continued with each other's work.

Her mother brought her to the playground the next day. It takes only a few minutes for Sakura to not see a glimpse of her mother's shadow and she runs off to the forest near the playground.

She's thinking of finding bugs today, maybe the one that can match her arm — she ignores the thought that it wasn't a bug . Or anything not remotely the same or she had seen before, something intriguing, something unique .

She found a field of flowers in the forest, unfortunately, she wasn't the only one there. There were already five girls giggling and about as they took off every single petal of a flower they had in hand.

"Make some friends Sakura" 

That is what her mother said, and with a churning gut, she did as she was walking near the girls. But Sakura doesn't know how to make some friends — do friends watch slugs too?

She'd have to ask to know

"Hi, I'm Sakura, can I join you?" She asks for depredation in her voice while fiddling with the ribbon on her dress.

All the girls looking at her made her slightly nervous, Sakura didn't have girls to play with in the past after all.

There was a girl with short purple hair and she raised one brow in Sakura's direction "Your hair looks stupid" 

Sakura only blinks at this, a film flashing in her eyes, as she smiles sweetly while touching her head

"Is it? I think your hair looked pretty though" 

The purple-haired girl blushed at that then puffed out her chest with her arms crossed

"I- I guess you could join us" Sakura smiled at them vision clearing from their previous mist, she sat exactly on the purple girl's side as the other girls gave her a curious look

"I know several braids that I think would suit you, my Kaa-san taught me how to shape it like a crown" 

"Are you good at it?" She asked with suspicion, and Sakura beams brilliantly 

"Of course!" Confidence is the key to winning others Tou-san told her

She can feel the hot wind lapping against her skin as Sakura once again opens her eyes to the endless plains of monochromatic sepias

He stood there again amidst the crimsons that seemed to follow him like a winding cloak, dead bodies littered around and beyond her vision and there he stood, in an indescribable feeling of magnificence and loneliness.

Golden brown orbs bored her, and Sakura thought they were beautiful –his eyes. She blinks and she thinks there is a hint of accusation in those beautiful, beautiful eyes but Sakura doesn't understand and doesn't know why.

She blinked again and the distance between them closed. She wonders then why there wasn't any crimson staining his clothes.

"I'm Sakura" 

She didn't have any urges to say nonsensical things this time, and it's only polite to start with names, isn't it?

He cocked his head slightly, the actions look lackadaisical and Sakura follows the lines that darken the shade beneath his eyes.

"Sasori" 

Sakura opened her mouth in slight surprise, and then her mouth formed into a bright grin, as she leaned slightly closer, wanting to see more of the intricacies of the universe depicted in his eyes. She forgot about the blood that dries quickly as the heat cooled down and he was giving her his attention for the first time.

"Do you believe in eternity, Sasori-san?" 

She speaks and it feels like it isn't her, Sasori blinks slowly at her and Sakura stops breathing

"Eternity…" he says each syllable "Is the essence of art" 

Of course, it is

She hears soft velvets and the ending piece of a theatre orchestra, his voice is anything but soft but it's captivating to hear when it reaches Sakura's ears. 

A scorpion holding a thread with it's tail

Of all her marks, Kaa-san told her that the one in her arm was the brightest, and the shade that Sakura favoured the most.

It was red, as the skies came dusk, red as cherries she loved, red as the blood she was so curious about, red as the boy that uses it as his primary paint on his wide canvas.

"Then do you believe in fate?" 

Burnt gold irises rolled as he turned his back on her and Sakura frowned.

"I don't waste time on such nonsense" 

Sakura sniffs in disgruntlement, visions of a broken man flicking at the speed of light in her eyes

"No wonder you might become the worst of them"

His only reply was the distance lengthening between them.

Sakura pouts.

With a dramatic sigh, she runs until she reaches him.

The itch lessened when she finally managed to get near him, and Sakura's body released its tension. She then noticed he was slowing his pace, an action that only made Sakura grin wider.

"Don't try creating eternity next time, when you can embody that word" 

For a second Sasori's step faltered, before continuing. He didn't know if it was anything useful to have someone who spouts quoted epithets for him, though the seals she carelessly carved on his floor certainly were.

"–I got these dreams you know but I don't how genius or what kind of madness it is to butcher your own body, in my humble perspective that's just plain dumbassery–"

He silently noted her fluency although not surprisingly, little could these days. It brought a small amount of relief to him that he wasn't paired down with someone dim-witted.

Her continued chatter didn’t make him act on the impulse to anyone who irritates him, but a vein ticked in Sasori's brows the longer it took.

"–I don't really but he seems to look like you, you know, but taller– "

"Sakura-san–" Sakura snaps her mouth shut

He turns his head to gaze down at her "Shut up."

Sakura pursed her lips holding back a whimper as the hairs on the back of her neck rose in intimidation.

He continued walking and as fast as her small legs could catch up, Sakura ran for him.

Never in her blighted imagination that cockroaches could be this mean when transformed into another species.

Chapter Text

Sometimes Sakura dreamed of stealing the sun.

She could almost taste it. The heat, the bitterness, the pain, the agony and the surprising pleasure that came with it.

But she would wake up with arms hugging a plush doll with braided hair and a loose silk dress that she practises her stitches with 

She almost hungered for the sensation in her dreams

Her kaa-san would open the door gently and help her bathe. They would choose a dress in her closet that was becoming cramped with all the clothes that would always multiply with each week 'cause her kaa-san would buy her a few more new ones.

She yesterday asked if she could have a younger sister to give her dresses to, but the stiff way her father laughed her question off and the pain that flashed in her mother’s eyes made Sakura stop.

Everything’s okay though, she was given a few extra puddings by the end of breakfast and her tou-san hugged her tight and warmly then whispered too quietly in her ear 

“I love you, sweetheart…you’re enough”

But she heard from a neighbour just when Sakura passed by their house, that most fathers want sons because they carry their surnames, and men want legacy somehow. But Sakura heard her kaa-san was the one that gave birth to Sakura, not her tou-san. So whose legacies do boys carry?

Sakura thought of it thoroughly till her head hurt.

Night came and Sakura hid beneath the comfort of her thick blankets surrounded by her dolls and trinkets.

The night wasn’t a peaceful one, the rain came down heavily in Konoha as lightning struck with vengeance 

In one moment if it was the storm would claim her with its loud penetration through their roof, but suddenly, gone was the loud lightning strike, or heavy platters of rain.

Green eyes opened, and wetlands greeted hair with abundant fauna and proud ancestor trees. 

Sakura looked up and a masked man with a small sword like the one Sakura saw in weapon shops, was situated on his back. He was crouching on a branch of a tree like a panther looking down on its prey, gazing down intimidatingly. 

Sakura clutched the hem of her nightgown tightly shivering from the cold air that hit her.

But then Sakura noticed the exposed span of his shoulder was a rapidly growing root of all things covering the tattoo that was previously glinting menacingly in spare moonlight.

“Um…I’m H-Haruno Sakura, I live in block 37 of Shinsei District in Haruno Residence. Uh- oh! My Kaa-san says that you have to bring me home safely or she’ll break both of your legs and feed you to Tami-chan if not…”

Sakura seriously thinks she’s lost, like super lost. 

The masked man with the old man’s hair tilted his head at her.s

The fang in her chest shimmers and tingles — Sakura reaches and scratches it from the outside of her clothes 

“What’re ya doin’ here kid?”

Sakura squeaked in surprise, as another masked man suddenly asked just beside her.

“Don’t be stupid Cat, she looked like she’s lost”

Another voice sounded, although this time a masked woman with purple hair appeared from the shadows. Cat scratched the back of his head 

“Well… It’s always polite to ask, you know…manners” Cat clicked his tongue and crossed his arms on his chest 

“Sure, just like how you politely asked that enemy shinobi if she preferred lavender more than vanilla — perfumes of all things”

The purple-haired woman, put both of her hands on her waist, looking very fierce while looking down at the man who was two heads taller than her

Sakura fiddled nervously with the ribbon of her sleeping clothes while looking back and forth between the two 

“Uh-ano..” Sakura croaked, face reddening in embarrassment 

The masked man then faces her as if realizing that they have another companion in the clearing “Don’t worry kid, we’ll take you home in a second” he even gave a thumbs up.

His words didn’t provide any relief to Sakura at all, they only intensified the wariness she felt with all these strangers strangers

“We're super fast ya know, we’re cool that way. Though you gotta’ hop on to my back for that” The lithe tall man Cat told her as he kneeled in front of Sakuta who clutching her doll tightly

“How’d that sound?” he asked her gently 

Sakura was still, her face a veneer of crumbling steel as a child sheltered but lost her way home. So Sakura hesitated to look back and forth to the silver-haired man with tattoos as her insides screamed at her to run for him and to Cat who initiated an offer of protection–he said he would bring her home 

The purple-haired woman at the side sighs. 

“Taichō” she drawls 

“It seems our little mouse here prefers you over Cat” Sakura blushed at the insuation, her mother’s scandalized voice ringing behind her air

Oh, how ungrateful! Utterly ungrateful Sakura is 

“I-I do—” Sakura stutters her way out of the situation 

But the purple-haired woman was already jumping to the bark where the silver-haired set his nest 

Sakura was soon delivered home with a gentle pat on the head with her parents rushing to her side. Mebuki was already sobbing as Kizashi bowed down his waist repeatedly in thanks 

“Just doing our job,” a man with a needle stuck in his mouth says 

Gone were their masks and weird clothes and Sakura didn’t notice they changed.

Right. She fell asleep.

Sakura thought about the lightning man with a tattoo and peers through the people who brought her and was disappointed to not find him there 

In a few weeks after the disappearing fiasco, her mama and papa educated her about soulmates 

“Like Itachi-kun?”

“Like Itachi-san yes”

Soulmates were a unique concept that tied people together throughout their lives. Mebuki and Kizashi were lucky to find each other and coincidentally lived in the same village, they were normal people — some that can’t be said for the names carved in her soul-stretching their mark on her mortal skin.

When all was done and her parents thought she understood enough, Sakura would close her eyes and dream as if awakened by a woman whose world was different. 

Soulmates don’t exist there you see, Sakura sees the girl with the same hair as she chases a boy who looks like Itachi-kun with some resemblance. It must’ve been very lonely, Sakura thinks. 

To love someone so desperately. 

She doesn’t feel it’s wrong or bad to chase and hope for something you want. Her papa always tells her that life’s too short, and perhaps the woman dreamed but as far as Sakura can understand, she had long stopped chasing.

Sakura was five when she met at least three of the men who may someday build a paradise from the world that turned into ashes to correct its imperfection for her.

Four of them were Uchihas after all.

Sakura was six and she dropped from the sky and fell into arms bigger than her but still small.

“Hello?” green eyes squints 

Sakura peers into dark eyes and skin paler than the moon. 

The boy seems to be in disbelief and opens and shuts his mouth several times before his dark eyes soften as if settling on something in his mind.

“Hello there soulmate, it seems that I don’t need to find you after all” 

Green eyes widened in recognition as the mark dangerously between her hips and thighs burned warmly 

“I’m Izuna!” a cheer seems to enter his voice as Sakura squirms from his grip the becomes tighter as if afraid she would vanish just as fast as she appears 

“Cool, right, can you please put me down?” 

Izuna took a minute as if deliberating the decision before putting her down to Sakura’s relief. A soulmate’s order was absolute after all.

Izuna took notice of the thin clothing his soulmate had and frowned and shrugged off the cloak he had, he’s thankful he was the one assigned to this particular border patrol, if not who knows how long he had to waste and what land he had to scour to find his soulmate?

Sakura on the other hand flushed at the gesture before remembering where she was supposed to be before she fell asleep on the Academy school grounds and it would be her next class soon.

“Ah Izuna-san? Do you perhaps know the way to Konoha? I still have classes and I…”

Izuna merely gave her a puzzled look 

“I apologise but I am not familiar with any land or village that is named Konoha” 

Sakura paled. Izuna panicked at her expression.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”

Sakura stutters “N-no Konoha?” 

Izuna can only nod with a wary gaze settled on her “You are currently in the lands occupied by the Uchiha Clan, and I apologize if it caused you distress, but you can come with the compound! My brother would be thrilled to know you!” 

“B-but I need to go home, mama and Papa will be worried and I still have a class you know” Sakura bit her lower lip to stop the urge to cry 

Izuna only tilted his head in confusion

“What’s a class?” 

Sakura couldn’t stop it and fainted to Izuna’s horror 

Izuna brought her bundled up in a cloak and strapped in his front like some precious sacked cargo

Sakura stopped sniffling long ago but her eyes were red and bloodshot which made Izuna terrified and constantly asked questions while he travelled on foot 

Perhaps Izuna was so excited about finding his soulmate and keeping her in a place which he knows will be able to protect her that he forgot one critical fact.

His father.

Uchiha Tajima was well aware of the fact that both of his remaining sons were tied to one person, in this case, a small vulnerable slip of a girl who no one can imagine to know how to defend herself.

If it’s squarely possible, Sakura would want to be buried then and there from where she was standing

This scary man was looking down at her like she was worth more than nothing but the dirt outside his house and the equally scary old people around him.

“Izuna.” He calls out her soulmate who flinched in response but stood straight.

“Otou-sama” he bows and Sakura follows his lead clumsily “Respected elders” another bow which Sakura also repeated.

There was a flash within her soulmate’s father’s eyes and Sakura could see a pattern bordered by crimson. Pretty, pretty eyes like Itachi-kun. She thinks absent-mindedly.

A heavy soaked cloak on her back sees him but he sees her first. Crimson eyes, swirling pinwheels as they bore into her, power-radiating, conquering. It was enthralling to be under its power.

The scary man narrowed his eyes at her as Sakura was lost again in another broken memory, gone was the trepidation as her green eyes turned glassy as if in a dream she would never wake from 

Uchiha Tajima was a man who led and knew wars first before he could fully comprehend them and this shows. For wars have no boundaries, only two sides of the same coin and its soldiers. 

“Explain why you have come back earlier than you were told to” 

Rain. A never-ending torrential of a god’s tears with flawed dreams.

Izuna only raises his head, steel shining within those obsidian orbs and Tajima could’ve been even prouder. This was his son, his son.

“I have finished scouting our borders and the Senju wouldn’t be a bother for a short while as they are preparing for the harvest season” Izuna clinically reported to the rest of the council.

“Then pray to tell Izuna-sama” a  man with greying hair rasped his voice like brass steel ringing, his coal black eyes beady “What guest you have brought us” 

Then every eye poured into Sakura’s small form. The little girl with glassy green eyes still lost, seems to sparkle with ancient fire threatening to burn.

“Hello” Airy, dreamy as the butterfly's first flight. “I am Haruno Sakura” 

Izuna looked at the girl fate chose for him stunned before grinning widely 

“Otou-sama! This is my soulmate, and she fell from the sky!” 

Sakura who was barely awake was then ushered by dark-haired women in clothes she vaguely remembers seeing in her historical picture book

They tutted at her clothes. Commenting how unseemly they were for a small girl like her, but the sturdy quality surprised them. They are not in the position to question though. Words travelled fast that the clan head’s second son found his soulmate. And it is something of great importance to a clan such as the Uchiha who were especially vulnerable with their emotions.

Sakura was used to being dolled up, but she wasn’t used to not having her mother do it. Frowning, she looked around the spacious traditional room. The two girls beside her were startled when Sakura suddenly sobbed.

“Sakura-sama?” The shorter girl asked her panicked

Green eyes still searchingly looked at her surroundings, tears streaming down her face “Where’s Mama” 

Both girls relaxed at the question seemingly understanding that this girl no matter her importance is still a child. And it seems like an orphaned one at that.

“I apologise Sakura-sama but according to what Izuna-sama explains on how he found you, it seems that your parents are–” a hand slapped the shorter girl’s mouth 

“Ume!” Ume’s companion hisses at her 

Ume glares but lowers her head apologetically “My apologies I have gone too far” 

The taller girl just grabbed Ume by her arm before bowing cordially to Sakura. “It seems Ume is still in need of further discipline and I will be distributing her punishment now. We will only remain outside of your room, so you may call us if you need any assistance” 

She then proceeded to drag Ume out of Sakura’s sight. They can only stare blankly at the shadows outside those fancy paper sliding doors.

Where exactly is she 

Sakura slept fitfully on her futon. She felt small fingers touching her hair and cording through the strands carefully as if afraid too much force would wake her.

“Aniue. What are you doing?”
“Where did you find her?” a huff 
“I told you I was patrolling and she fell directly into my arms!” 
“What a great vivid dream you have, little brother.” 
“I’m not lying!” It was Izuna’s snapping voice that woke her.

Ah this wasn’t a dream after all 

“Idiot. You were too loud” Izuna then proceeded to mutter a series of apologies 

Hazy green eyes open to two dark blobs that take a few blinks to get clearer 

“Izuna?” it came out sounding childishly from a child’s mouth 

“I’m here!” Sakura winces at the volume. The older dark-haired boy then glares with enough heat that Izuna dunks his head in shame

“S’ alright” Sakura rasps feeling her throat becoming painful “Papa’s loud too, and Mama would often get mad” 

The older dark-haired boy looked at her sadly, and oh he was the one threading through her hair.

Sakura blinked “Who’re you?” she asked him. Her Mama would have pinched her ear for that because that was a very rude way of asking to be introduced and raised her better than that.

The older boy only smiled amusedly at her, everything about him was pale and dark. Like the moon, her mind supplied 

Like Sas– 

“Madara.” How familiar, how strange 

The mass of intertwined spiral at the skin above her heart twinges and then burns 

His eyes were as dark as the future he wrote for himself but when they looked at Sakura, they were soft and gentle  like a summer night’s breeze 

“You may call me Madara” 

Red moon, a fan, long dark-dark hair, gleaming empty hungry eyes, and a puppet who thought himself the master of the game.

“Never trust the man with two faces, who lives under a mountain of corpses,” Sakura mutters smiling eyes clearing 

“Oh, it's Sakura” Her tone continues with ease as if she never uttered strange mutterings before 

Madara and Izuna both looked at each other sharply 

“It suits you,” Madara says and Sakura beams in return 

“It does? I thought it was rather plain, you know, before…” She then chatters off about her Mama having rather plain taste in names but it was better than her father's eccentric ones 

“She sounds lovely” Madara softly says, her chest faintly fluttering in exchange it was searing as if undecided between her broken dreams or what was presented in the present 

“Yeah! And I gotta go home now, you have a pretty home. But my Mama would be worried and I still have class tomorrow. You guys looked like Itachi-kun a lot, so I guess you’re all related, but I guess he’s on a mission again” Sakura tells them, shrugging off her blankets and preparing to stand.

Much larger hands stopped her and Sakura frowned at him even if his touch sent a comforting sensation calming her

“Madara?” 

The two brothers looked at each other again, they seemed to do this a lot 

“About that Sakura-chan…you see” Izuna sighs 

They told her, her parent’s are dead.

Sakura only looked at them like they were a pair of lying idiots.

She thinks she can’t wake up from this dream because it seems so far from the normal ones. Sakura knows her red-headed soulmate is in Suna, with its vast monotone sandy lands and hot climate. He is shown like a spectre, shining brilliantly with his mere existence and his art. Itachi was the nearest, and the most likeable, she fondly thinks, with his gentle peaceful nature. And that silver-haired man, she wasn’t sure, other than the burn in the lightning fang mark in her body tells her enough.

Madara and Izuna would visit and talk to her daily but other than that, Sakura was never to step a single small dainty feet outside of her compound. She was like some kind of prisoner she thinks, like Princess Fuki in her storybooks. 

“Why can’t I go out?” She asks Ami-san who was the older taller girl from her first day 

Her dark eyes held no excess emotions that Sakura could see, but the jaded aspect at the back of her head easily pinpoints the small switches of light in her gaze as they retracted from her eyes – gleaming emitting a painful understanding.

“You safer here Sakura-sama” Sakura pouts at that, that’s all they repeatedly told her after all

“B-But Izuna and Madara go out often too!” She protests

Ami-san only shakes her head “Madara-sama and Izuna-sama can take care of themselves, but you Sakura-sama, you can’t. Hence you must remain here until Tajima-sama declares otherwise” 

Sakura frowns heat flaring inside her, irritation bubbling like a fragile glass that melted under pressure. And Sakura snaps 

“I don’t care! I want to go out! Out!” she cries bawling as Ami-san rushes to comfort her mistress

“It’s not safe outside Sakura-sama! Those Senju monsters might come for you once they know how important you are”

Sakura’s only reply was to cry louder

It was on her third day that a pretty woman met her. She has the similar dark hair and eyes that were common from Madara and Izuna as well as the people she had been at least allowed to see. 

“I am Uchiha Kimiko. And I will be educating you on how to be a proper lady of the clan once you come of age to marry” 

Sakura fidgets under the ramrod seiza she is in. Her lips tremble as her eyes begin to produce moisture. 

“Cease your fits and crying. That is not how a future matriarch should behave.”

The command had her swallowing her cry. 

She wants to go home

Kimiko made her first lesson by commenting on Sakura's posture and explaining a set of what she would expect.

She sleeps that night wishing and hopeful that she will be back home the moment she wakes up.

The familiar ceiling greets her and Sakura sobs her childish mind protesting and wanting her parents and Itachi-kun. She called out to them every night but no one came.

“Be graceful Sakura-sama. Straighten your shoulders.”

“Again”

“You won’t charm even a rock with that expression. Smile!”

“Repeat!”

“Remember, women do not fight, our role is to please and make the home comfortable for the men to come back after their battles.”

“Again.”

“Again.”

Sakura cries herself to exhaustion every night. Even the trinkets Madara and Izuna would give her won’t make her smile anymore.

It had been so many days that Sakura already lost count with her fingers.

She wants to go home. She wants to go home. She wants to go home.

“Wh-”

“Where have you been, you damn idiot.” 

The voice snaps at her and Sakura blinks at the scene and the scent of oil and wood

“Sasori?” she calls out voice breaking

Her red-headed soulmate finally fixed his gaze on her. His eyes sharply noted her appearance before frowning lips turns into a scowl.

“What happened?” His eyes narrow as Sakura runs and throws herself at him knocking the puppet he had in his lap.

“I-I don’t know I just fell asleep then there’s these scary men and they say that-that mama and papa’s gone—” 

Sakura heaves into sobs as she fists Sasori’s shirt. She felt being lifted, being cradled more comfortably as Sakura burrowed her face into the nook of the teen’s neck for comfort.

“Calm down and tell me what happened.”

And tell him she did.