Hello Hello!
It's finally time to bring back a story I've kept in my heart for a long time. I've been getting messages for a long time asking for this story, and at last I can share it with you.
Bleach wasn't my first anime, but it was certainly one that stayed in my heart, even now. I have watched it and read it more times than I could count.
Enjoy!
Summary:
There was only ever one finish line in Sakura's game of life, death. That was the fate of every shinobi and every mortal being. But what happens when an accident ends up giving her a new lease on life, with power that pushes her to new heights and brings her to new lows? After all, no deal is without terms and conditions. What can Sakura do, when she discovers death is not the end of the line for her anymore?
Her goal was to bring Sasuke home, to fight beside Naruto and protect her village. Yet, her fate gets twisted with a world of death, monsters that eat souls, and reapers.
The world came to her in fragments, like shards of a broken mirror reflecting a distorted reality. Her vision blurred at the edges as if she were peering through a fogged window. The kind of awakening that follows a restless sleep; a sleep that offers no dreams, no nightmares, only the promise of a day that would attempt to grind her spirits to dust. She blinked, and took in her surroundings.
The air was damp, carrying the faint metallic tang of stone and earth. The light was dim, sourceless, as though it seeped from the walls themselves. She was underground, or so it seemed. The walls carved in rock. Her body felt leaden, weighed down by invisible chains. She glanced down and saw the restraints, thick, leather straps that bound her up to her arms, holding them tightly behind her back. Yet, it wasn't the leather that held her immobile; it was as if gravity itself had doubled, pressing down on her.
To a kunoichi, Sakura Haruno knew this was far from an ideal situation, an ordinary person would've been induced to panic, but her instinct was to take in her surroundings, collect every image and observation, and make a calculated decision before her nerves and emotions caught up to her and netted around her shinobi instincts.
And then she saw him.
"Well look who's finally awake,"
A man sat a few feet away, his posture relaxed, almost languid as if he were waiting for a tea kettle to boil rather than guarding a captive. His face was shadowed by the brim of a striped bucket hat, but his eyes, gray and sharp caught the faint light. His hair was a mess of pale gold, strands falling carelessly across his forehead, and a faint stubble dusted his jaw. In one hand, he held a cane. In the other, a fan, which he flicked open with a practiced snap, hiding the lower half of his face.
"I was starting to think you'd never wake up after that. Glad to see you weren't done in,"
Her eyes narrowed, as she tugged at the restraints, but her body refused to obey, as though her muscles had forgotten their purpose.
"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice hoarse but steady.
The man tilted his head, the brim of his hat casting his eyes into deeper shadow. "That's what I want to ask you," he replied, tapping the tip of his cane against the ground.
"Sakura Haruno," she said without hesitation, "Now, tell me where I am."
He chuckled, a low, mirthless sound that echoed faintly in the cavernous space. "Sakura Haruno," he repeated. "Tell me, do you remember what happened to you?"
Her brow furrowed as she tried to piece together the fragments of her memory. A mission, yes, there had been a mission. And then… flashes of chaos. Bodies across the ground like discarded dolls. A creature, monstrous, its mask. That was something she couldn't forget. The fusion of bone and shadow.
Then she remembered the blinding pain as something tore through her chest. Her eyes instinctively flew to her torso, searching for the wound, but there was nothing. No blood, no scar, not even a tear in her clothing….which had been changed. She was no longer wearing her usual red vest her entire outfit seemed to have been displaced.
She noticed the black fabric covering her body, a black kimono. Clasping neatly to her body in perfect size, but that was the least of her concerns.
"I'm alive?" she whispered, more to herself than to him.
The man's fan snapped shut, and he leaned forward, his gray eyes glinting like shards of ice. "Oh no," he said, his tone almost playful. "You're not alive."
"What? What the hell are you talking about?" She was here right now, she could feel her breaths, her chest rising with each intake, the pain in her shoulders from being bound as she was.
He shrugged as if discussing the weather. "I suppose it's more accurate to say that you, Sakura Haruno, are neither dead nor alive. You're somewhere in between."
This may have been nothing more than a disturbing joke, but it set her off. She tugged at the restraints again, but they held fast, "Explain. Now."
The man snapped his fingers, and the restraints fell away, disintegrating into wisps of smoke. Sakura surged to her feet, her body moving on instinct, falling into a defensive stance.
"What is this?" she demanded, her voice rising. "What's going on?"
The man rose smoothly to his feet, his cane tapping lightly against the stone floor. He reached behind him and produced a sheathed sword, which he tossed at her feet. The blade landed with a metallic clang that echoed through the chamber. "Do you really want to know?"
Sakura stared at the sword, a sinking feeling settling in her gut. Whatever this was, it was bad. Worse than bad. She could feel it.
"Think back," the man said, his voice cutting through her thoughts. "Way back. What brought you to this moment? And don't hold back."
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'We stand in Awe for that which cannot be seen. And we respect every fiber that cannot be explained.
What are shinobi? Warriors, soldiers, specialists. Skilled in the arts of combat, infiltration, assassination, and more, their toolbox was infinite, ready to be filled with any item needed to complete their task, and their missions. Anything and everything could fit in that box, their blood, their bodies, their emotions, everything could be crammed in. Everything except their souls. That would not stand for being folded away.
Shinobi were taught to go through any means to complete their missions, even at the cost of their lives. Taught in theory it came across as simple as calculated necessity, but in practice, it was as different as yin and yang. The entire concept of shinobi, their doctrine, had been difficult for someone like Sakura Haruno to embrace. Even as she had perfect attendance in the classes.
The rules were etched in her head, and she could fall from her lips without hesitation, but she realized albeit late, that she could only test well on paper and not in practice.
The opportunity for improvement had presented itself later in her journey, but Sakura was grateful to take it. She may have been late to get the signal to run, but at least she was now allowed on the track.
Tsunade, their current Hokage, was her master. Taking Sakura under her, instilling all of her knowledge, skills, and values for the past year.
Sakura could finally say she had improved as a shinobi. Would it be enough to reach Sasuke? She didn't know, but she wanted to do everything in her power to help Naruto get him back. One year had already passed, and things were on track for her in terms of training. She felt like a snake in the middle of shedding its skin. In her case, it was the identity of the kunoichi with no particular talent. The protected. The vulnerability. And while she was proud to be reaching new heights however there was a downside.
Going to the current Hokage for training, the current leader of their village to learn all she could in being a medical ninja and skilled kunoichi meant an outstanding amount of hours in hospitals and the training grounds. And without a team, none out in the field.
Aside from the chuunin exams, Sakura had not left for a single mission. And she barely saw her former team leader and sensei Kakashi either. He was like a ghost. Either training or going on missions as a jounin. While the rest of her friends were always off, gaining experience and fortitude. Sakura had to wait until her team returned. Until Naruto returned from his training. He was now under the wing of Jiraya, a former teammate of her own mentor, and part of the Legendary Sannin trio. Even Sasuke was under one of them, though that situation was far from ideal, and had led to Naruto and Sakura finding their mentors.
After both Sakura and Naruto failed to bring Sasuke back, a new resolve and consensus was awakened between the two. They needed to become stronger. Naruto wanted to bring Sasuke back, and Sakura wanted to ensure she could provide some use. At the academy, she was boasted to have an extraordinary mind and quick study, yet she was slow to learn how much her lack of skill would accumulate a scale of unnecessary problems in her path as a shinobi. Nor did she realize how much it would end up troubling those around her. She was a blade without a point, blunt. And a blunt blade was a useless blade.
So when she saw a chance to make up for those shortcomings, she took it. Going to the current Hokage, the leader of their village to learn all she could about being a medical ninja from her. In terms of combat and fieldwork. Sakura had slowly been escaping from her title, as the kunoichi with no individual skill. However, there was one issue with this.
"I haven't left gone out into the field in so long!" The bin slammed into the sink, clattering noisily as a few beakers toppled over in its wake Sakura muttered, her voice heavy with frustration to fix them, not wanting the deduction on her paycheck for damaging hospital equipment. Her nose was still filled with the smell of antiseptic and blood. As she just recently came out of surgery. 6 hours were not nearly enough to expend the energy she had. Tsunade wasn't able to take her out to train the entire week because of her neglected duties as Hokage had finally peaked and that snowball of paperwork, unsigned documents, and meetings was finally ready to topple over.
It was accepted that Tsunade wouldn't be able to give her full attention to Sakura as she had her duties. As far as medical practices went, she had her senpai, and older sister apprentice Shizune to pick up on the lessons, however as far as combat went, Sakura felt that she was severely falling behind.
Sakura was dependent on those lessons to make the dent in her combat skills, which for a shinobi was sorely lacking. She received the basics from the academy, but that had only been enough to step out onto the field, to run through it, required a lot more. Her classmates came from clans that gave special attention to their capabilities, the inherited ones the most. And even for those who lacked talent, Sakura discovered that mentors could make all the difference regardless of where they started.
She had come late to that party, but she wasn't going to leave without obtaining something of value.
Across the room, Ino rolled her eyes as she carefully measured out a pale green liquid into a flask. Ino's complaints lay elsewhere, namely, in the training sessions with her father.
"If you want to go on a mission, go to Tsunade-sama and request one," Ino suggested, as she set the flask down.
"You think I haven't tried that? She's turned me down so many times, and she's usually even angrier the more I bring it up." She shivered, recalling the piercing glare of her mentor. This was the first time Sakura genuinely feared one of her teachers.
Aside from that, Tsunade wasn't likely to let Sakura go off on her own, as a chuunin. Much less teamless.
"Well, how badly do you actually want to go?"
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Another difficult night passed for Sakura, at times when she was feeling particularly heavy there would be dreams. Taking her back to the worst moments of her life. The night Sasuke decided to leave the village, he encountered Sakura. That last line of defense was to keep him from leaving the village, but the reality was, that the defense that was Sakura was about as strong as a wet sheet of paper. Nothing could keep him from moving passed her, and she couldn't reach him in any way, not physically or emotionally. And at times, when she fell asleep, she would be reminded of that failure, over and over again. She could always remember that moment, the warm breeze against her skin, her tears collecting under her chin, her choked breaths that felt like something was pressing on her chest, and the way her emotions sank heavily into her stomach when Sasuke looked back at her for no other reason other than to remind her of the annoyance she was to him.
Looking back now, she could acknowledge that she had made her role in team seven as nothing more than an ornamental space filler instead of functional. Naruto, who had been the worst coming out of their graduate class, surpassed everyone's expectations despite the constant ridicule of his placement. But Sakura, what she had done in that time? Nothing of true value or substance on any of their missions. Even when her teammates truly needed her to take the front. She didn't last.
This was why she woke up, her shoulders strained, and her muscles tensed in her legs when she moved to get out of bed. It was as if her dreams could take all her turmoil and turn them into welts strung all over her body. However, her remedy was also right next to her, on her nightstand.
A framed picture of team seven, with their mentor Kakashi standing above them, each of his hands resting on the heads of two grumpy twelve-year-old boys who were glaring at each other, passed the pink-haired girl in the middle of them. That was her remedy for pushing passed her dreams, and regrets and looking to the future. One where she actually remedied her past mistakes and finally had something of substance to offer to the boys who protected her in her time of weakness and vanity.
In between her fingers pieces of her pink locks collected after brushing through them as she steadied herself. It was much quicker to prepare now that her morning routine consisted of the bare necessities of preparation. No more 20-minute showers to condition her hair and shampoo twice, nor did she concern herself with twiddling her fingers through long locks. As it turned out, her hair could only be tamed through meticulous grooming, or it became unruly, each layer falling out of place in an attempt to stand out. Which is why didn't change the placement of her headband on top of her head, using it to keep her hair in place. She forced a determined glare to settle in her emerald eyes. One she hoped to hold when she stood in front of her master.
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Sakura was very familiar with the Hokage's residence, often meeting her master there. While Tsunade was a renowned medical ninja and one of the revered legendary sanin, she was also a hopeless gambling addict with no luck in games of chance or anything she bet on. She was also an alcoholic who preferred a bottle of sake to cap off the night. This was why Sakura had such a hard time with her training because she often had to inconvenience Tsuande reminding her of their appointments when the woman didn't get a chance to recover from her hangover.
And today she was going to make an especially difficult request that might just get Sakura tossed out of the window if she calculated correctly. Tsunade waking up with a hangover, in front of a pile of paperwork and a request she already stated was nonnegotiable would likely result in a painful lesson for the kunoichi. But no one ever got what they wanted by being passive. Naruto had been outlandish and infuriatingly stubborn when it came to similar matters. And all that pushing eventually got him his way. Perhaps she should be pushing more as well?
The first push would be against the heavy wooden door that stood between her and the Hokage's office. Sakura entered and found a familiar scene. Papers were stacked precariously high on the desk, some threatening to topple at the slightest disturbance. Behind the fortress of documents, Tsunade sat slumped, looking like she had lost a battle with a sake bottle. Her golden hair, normally immaculate, was disheveled, strands clinging to her face. Brown eyes peeked out from beneath her drooping eyelids as if trying to ward off the very idea of light.
"Tsunade-sama," Sakura called her voice firm despite the nervous flutter in her stomach.
Groggy and disoriented, she squinted at Sakura. "Sakura? What is it?" she rasped, her voice heavy with fatigue. "What are you doing here this early?"
They didn't have any training schedule for today, as Sakura had a full shift of surgeries at the hospital and by now she knew that if her orders were clear then she didn't need to bother Tsunade.
"I'm sorry ma'am but I….I want to ask!" She straightened her shoulders, firming her voice so that it caught Tsunade's attention. Whenever Sakura's soft-spoken tone became like this, it always drew focus. "I want a mission!"
Tsunade was fully awake now. That word "mission" seemed to snap out of her haze. Her eyes opened fully now, their sharpness returning like a blade unsheathed. She exhaled heavily, the sound laced with both irritation and reluctant empathy. "Sakura, you know why you can't. Your team isn't here anymore,"
"But I'm not a genin anymore,"
"Yes, but you're not a jounin either. And you're also a medical ninja," Medical shinobi were discouraged from going out into a field alone because they were so difficult to obtain. Training as one took longer than the average ninja. Otherwise, there would've been a policy to have one on every squad. This made Sakura indispensable as well, and completely removed her from the possibility of ever taking a solo mission.
Sakura opened her mouth to argue, her frustration bubbling to the surface. The restless ache in her chest, the one that had been growing louder and sharper with every passing day, demanded to be heard. But before she could speak, the door to the office swung open with an audible creak.
Shizune stepped in, her expression grim, and Sakura immediately straightened. "Tsunade-sama, we've received an urgent call," Shizune announced, holding a scroll tightly in her hands. "One of the Jounin has just returned from a mission. He's heavily injured and requires immediate treatment."
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Tsunade was known for being one of the best medical ninjas of her time, but she rarely came to treat patients unless there was no other capable medic. That's why Sakura found it odd she was going herself to treat this patient. That was until she saw the patient.
The man lay on a cot, his body battered and bloodied. His uniform was shredded in places, revealing deep claw marks that ran jagged across his chest and arms. The injuries seemed unnatural, almost feral. It was horrific, the iron smell of blood she was used to but the way this man looked could only be described as a ripped-up rag. The marks were unusual too, wounds stained purple and wide, that didn't blossom like ordinary bruises.
Tsunade wasted no time. Rolling up her sleeves, she placed glowing hands over the wounds, her chakra flaring as she began treatment. But almost immediately, her brow furrowed. Her eyes sharpened as she worked, sweat beading on her forehead.
"These wounds… They aren't healing as they should," Tsunade muttered, her voice tinged with unease. Her hands glowed brighter, the green hue intensifying, but the claw marks resisted her efforts, the edges of the wounds seeming to pulse faintly as if alive.
"What… What's wrong?" Sakura asked, her voice quiet but strained as she stood at the foot of the bed.
"There's something unnatural about these injuries," Tsunade replied, her tone clipped. "What happened out there? Who did this to you?"
His eyes fluttered open, hazy and unfocused. His voice came out hoarse, barely audible. "I… I'm not sure," he admitted, his words labored. "There was something… something out there…a…monster,"
Sakura stepped closer, her fists clenched at her sides. "What was his mission?"
Shizune, standing nearby with a clipboard in hand, answered grimly. "A team of jounin were sent on a mission to Hacho Village. There had been reports of people going missing at night without a trace and the chief contacted our village to help investigate. They left two days ago,"
Although the wounds were still slow to heal, Tsuade's treatment was having an effect, giving him enough strength to follow a conversation. "We must send help….There's… something dangerous… lurking there," he rasped. "It's not human. If… If we don't send help, that entire village… it'll be wiped out."
"What about the rest of the team?" Sakura asked, but Shizune shook her head, indicating that he was the only one who came back.
His voice faded, and his head slumped to the side as he lost consciousness. Sakura felt her stomach twist.
Tsunade straightened, her hands finally pulling back as her chakra dimmed. Her expression was unreadable. "Sakura," she said, turning to her student. "Looks like you're getting your wish after all."
Sakura blinked, startled. "What do you mean?"
Tsunade crossed her arms. "This situation is too dangerous to ignore. I'm forming a team to investigate Hacho Village. Three ANBU and one medical ninja-you."
"Me?" Sakura's voice came out higher than she intended, her heart pounding in her chest. She wanted a mission, but the gravity of the situation made her knees feel weak. There was just something off about what she was looking at, and her instincts were screaming for some reason. Was this just her nerves that had become accustomed to getting lit only in front of an operating table with someone else's life on the line?
'Am I really….afraid?' Sakura couldn't help but feel pathetic at the notion.
Tsunade nodded firmly. "Yes. But remember, this is an investigation only. Your priority is to determine the cause of these attacks and report back. Do not engage. If the other jounin are alive, then they might need you to treat them,"
Sakura swallowed hard but nodded. "Yes, Tsunade-sama."
That's all for now Folks. I hope this read gives you a breather from any tough times
I've been working on new and old stories, and I'll be sharing them very very soon, so keep an eye out.
Thanks for tuning in, but now I've gotta tune out!
Stay strong and keep reading!
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EARLY CHAPTERS FOR MEMBERS NOW: BUYMEACOFFEE
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes chapter (97, 98, 99, 100)
-Kunoichi amongst Pirates chapter (43, 44, 45)
-Crossroads of Fate chapter (34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
-Through the Looking Glass chapter (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
- (Bleach crossover) Kunoichi amongst Reapers: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
-Commission: Demon slayer x My hero academia (PART 1 & 2)
- Kunoichi amongst Benders (Avatar x Naruto crossover) (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes WHAT IF SPIN OFF: Dorms and Exams
-(SEQUEL) Through the Spyglass chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6
-SPECIAL HALLOWEEN CHAPTER: Shinigami amongst Shinobi