(Tim Seltzer, seltzer@seltzerbooks.com) Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Wedding Peach.
I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's
why I'm poor, okay?
Author's Notes: I am eternally grateful for the reviewers who
point out technical mistakes in my work. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
After scrubbing and rinsing her sweat off with the nearby show-heads,
Sakura plunged herself into the stone Japanese-bathtub. 'Setting aside
the kids, I guess it's sort of a luxury to live with the Fuumas. In the
Shinobi World, this size of a bathroom would be normal for a small village
inn...'
Sakura gave a sigh as she let herself soak. Her body was exhausted from
training.
"So are you ready for tomorrow's match?" Momoko asked next to her.
"As ready as I could ever be," Sakura replied. "I just need to relax
and have a good sleep."
The kunoichi had noticed a long time ago how beautiful her biological
mother was. 'At first glance, the only thing I have in common with her
is pink hair... And Yousuke looks great...'
"Um... Momoko?" Sakura asked. "How did you and Yousuke meet?"
Momoko laughed. "That's right, you only know that we met as humans in
the human realm. It was when were both 12. I was on the school newspaper,
and tried to snag an interview with the soccer captain. Instead, the back-up
goalie Yousuke kicked me off the field and told me to buzz off."
Sakura frowned. "Sounds like a bad start."
"You got that right. At first, I couldn't stand him. He called me 'Momo-P'
only two days after we met, and liked to make me mad on trifle things.
But... we really did care for each other. Even when our individual powers
awakened, we grew closer together."
Sakura smiled faintly, and cast down her eyes. 'What a fairy-tale,'
she thought to herself. 'Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending. Very rarely
happens, if ever. She's so lucky.'
Momoko noticed the hint of sadness in the girl's smile. "Oh... Did you
leave a lover over there? I'm sorry..."
"Not really," Sakura said. "It was just a stupid obsession on my part.
Nothing serious. Don't worry I got over it, long before I even came to
this dimension."
The kunoichi gave a dry laugh. "I had a huge crush on this dark, smart,
handsome guy. Number-one rookie of my graduating class, and he ended up
on my team when the genin-teams were chosen."
"So you were friends?" Momoko asked.
"Yeah... I guess we became friends. He showed as much expression as
a rock when he wasn't fighting, anyway. He was quiet, and so caught up
in... getting stronger. He save my life a few times, but that was because
we were teammates, and I couldn't protect myself. I was the weakest member
of the team."
"I see," the angel murmured. "But what I want to know is... do you still
have feelings for him?"
Sakura gave a wry smile. "No. I don't think so." She cupped her hands
and lifted up some hot water, splashing it on her face.
Sasuke looked in the distance through the trees. The gates of Konoha
were open. His parents, Naruto, and Kakashi and were waving at him, welcoming
him back.
"Yo, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled out.
"Hey, Dobe." Sasuke smirked at the obvious rage in Naruto's face.
It was such a relief to Sasuke that there were no girls around, swooning
over him like brainless idiots. But there was something not right.
"Hey, Naruto, where's Sakura?"
Naruto blinked. "Sakura?"
Sasuke stared back at his teammate. This wasn't possible even for
an idiot like Naruto. Sasuke pulled Naruto up by the collar.
"Usura-tonkachi!! Where's Sakura, our teammate?" he growled.
"Who the hell are you talking about?!" Naruto yelled. "You mean Kakashi?"
"Kakashi's our teacher, Moron! Don't tell me you don't remember her!"
Sasuke snapped his head in Kakashi's direction. "Kakashi!" he exclaimed,
as if demanding him to do something.
Kakashi put his palm to Sasuke's empty forehead, as if he were checking
for a fever. Sasuke brushed him off in frustration.
Sasuke turned to his parents. "Too-san! Kaasan!"
He then remembered that his parents wouldn't know Sakura. They never
met her.
They were dead, for crying out loud.
Sasuke decided to take this opportunity to ask stupid questions. Anybody
did senseless things in dreams even Sasuke and this definitely was
a dream. Maybe communicating with the dead was possible in this state.
"Too-san, Kaa-san... Have you seen Sakura anywhere? She's about this
tall, with pink hair and green eyes. Is she in the Land of the Dead? Or
if you're wandering around Earth, have you seen her?"
They smiled at him. They faded away. Naruto and Kakashi followed suit.
Sasuke somehow expected this. He decided to take another route.
"SAKURA!" he yelled out, turning around back to the forest. As if on
cue, the greenery warped into a desert. The teenager squinted, and saw
that there was an oasis up ahead. He walked up to it. He saw a figure crouching
under a palm tree, near the edge of the sparkling pool.
Sakura was kneeling and smelling at the flowers around the oasis. She
looked up to find Sasuke in standing in front of her.
The pink-haired girl looked down shyly. Sakura was not in her normal
clothing. Instead, she was dressed like a what was it again? tennyo.
Sasuke remembered the story of the fisherman and the heavenly maiden. His
mother read it to him often when he was little.
"Hello, Sasuke-kun." She gave a smile. "How are you?"
"I'm... I'm fine," Sasuke said. He seated himself down next to her.
"Sakura... where are you? Why aren't you in Konoha?"
"I'm home," Sakura replied. "This is my home."
The Uchiha had no idea how to react to this. In the long silence, he
decided to gaze at her.
She wore a red kimono with embroidered cherry blossoms, but it was long,
in a more ancient style like what a concubine wore. Underneath the red
kimono was a thin white kimono its long, fluttering ends covered her
feet. The material looked so thin and light-weight, draping loosely over
her figure. A finely-woven, pink hagoromo floated magically around her
shoulders.
Sasuke suddenly felt something. 'Since when was Sakura this '
As if reading his thoughts, Sakura hesitantly moved her face towards
his.
Some sort of animal instinct pushed the Uchiha forward. He started to
lean closer to her, something he would never do in real life. This was
the only time and place where he could forgot about his duties on Earth.
Yet before Sasuke could touch her, Sakura was jerked away from him.
She shrieked in fright.
The young man saw in horror that the oasis had now turned into a massive
wall of vines. The green tendrils encircled Sakura's limbs, pulling her
away. They grabbed at Sasuke as well.
"Damn it!" the boy shouted as he slashed away the vines with his kunai.
They were getting too fast, so he performed his Chidori and ripped the
plants through. He tried to reach Sakura, but more tendrils came out to
obscure his way.
As Sasuke fought off the vines, he noticed Sakura did not look frightened
anymore. In fact, she looked...
"SAKURA!!" Sasuke screamed. The vines dropped the lifeless maiden, and
slinked out of Sasuke's way.
Sasuke stumbled towards the limp form. He reached out to touch her.
"You're not worthy of her," something hissed from above.
Sakura's green eyes opened half-way. "Sa...Sasuke-kun..." She weakly
murmured. "I..." Her green eyes turned blank. Her breath stopped.
Sasuke jerked out of bed. He was covered in cold sweat.
'Just a dream...'
He put a hand over his dark eyes.
'Oh, hell. That was just ridiculous.'
The door creaked open. Momoko carefully stepped in, and closed the door
behind her. She tip-toed over to the bed in which Sakura peacefully lay.
A red compact nestled in Momoko's hand. It had a large, heart-shaped jewel
on its cover.
Sakura was stretched out on the mattress, wearing the nightshirt she
got from Momoko.
Momoko repositioned the crumpled blankets so that they adequately covered
the girl. Then the angel flicked open her compact, holding it over Sakura's
sleeping form.
The compact began to glow with aura. "Sacred Mirror," she whispered.
"Please show me the special person of my daughter."
An image appeared in the compact's mirror. A handsome, raven-haired
youth appeared. He physically looked Sakura's age, but his eyes were those
of an adult.
'I knew it,' Momoko thought with a gentle smile. 'She still has feelings
for him.'
The compact shut with a faint click.
Momoko stroked away the pink hairs obscuring Sakura's face, admiring
her daughter's beauty in the moonlight. The angel gave a gentle kiss on
her forehead. 'My poor girl. But you are loved more than you have any
idea of.'
Notes:
"Momo-P" - the 'P' is sort of a cute suffix for girls, usually given
between close female friends (or, if said by a guy, only to his girlfriend).
This is why Momoko couldn't stand Yousuke calling her this when they met
only recently.
"Usura-tonkachi" - it's usually translated as 'total moron' or 'total
idiot' by translators. It's literal meaning is hard to decipher. "Tonkachi"
means 'hammer', so the term could emphasize that Naruto is dense as a rock.
Or a charging-in-type, not paying attention to details, as the reader phoenix-light
pointed out. "Usura" can mean 'total' or 'complete'. Both of these words
are rather archaic, so the fact that Sasuke came up with such a full-blown
nickname could emphasize that he's well-read. (This is my GUESS; I know
Japanese as a mother language, but I have no doctorate in it. So please,
DON'T trust me on this one.)
Don't worry; the action is coming soon.
If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If
I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.
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