Chapter Text
"I love you, Sakura."
I stiffen and I look horrified at the boy in my arms in the dim glow of the fireflies. Those were the words I had once fantasised about hearing from his mouth, and yet hearing them spoken right then and there didn't do anything except make my stomach churn in disgust. How dare he...? Today of all days?
We currently sit comfortably in a clearing where we had set up camp. We're exhausted returning from our latest mission where we had to go to the Land of Waves escorting someone, not much unlike the mission the three of us had taken so many years ago. We only took this one because it seemed fitting, almost.
After all, it's been exactly 3 years since that day . The day Sasuke returned to them, but not without a price.
"Shut up." I stand up harshly, making him bump his head. Good. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! You shouldn't be the one saying that." My chest rises and falls quickly, disgust and loathing etched onto my face as Sasuke takes a second to realize the meaning behind my words. How dare he say that today? After he... After he did what he did…
"Sakura-" I turn away from him. "Sakura-chan, wait! Plea-" He didn't get to finish as a kunai was soon pressed harshly to his throat, making a small, burning cut. I barely even thought about doing it, but I can't bring myself to step back and stand down. He deserves this.
"Say that again, Sasuke." I spit out the name as if it was a curse. "I dare you. I dare you to call me that again." He stands there shocked and, though I don't think he would ever admit it to another living soul, looking scared. I know if he wants to, he could easily get out of my grasp and disarm me, but he doesn't. It makes me a little less angry, but I still don't step back. I kind of want to scare him more, want him to feel just terrified as I did when Naruto's chakra disappeared. When everything was pointing to the idea he was gone. When I had to accept that the man I loved killed my friend and teammate .
"I'm sorry, Sakura. I didn't mean to-"
I press the kunai closer to his throat. "Just like you didn't mean to kill him?" That shuts him up faster than I can blink, and though he does not show it physically, I can tell through his eyes that underneath the calm facade he's pissed. I didn't mean to say that, I know that that was unfair to him, I know that this is all just the result of us not talking about it for the past three years, but I don't feel sorry. I can't. I meant it.
"How many times must I apologise, Sakura?" His voice is deathly quiet, which is a hundred times worse than if he had yelled at me. "I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to hurt you so badly, and I didn't mean to make him bleed so much." Sasuke takes a deep breath before continuing, looking ashamed. "My aim at the time was to kill him, I admit it. I couldn't see past my views until it was too late, didn't want to listen to his reason, let myself into his light. Then, somehow, he did it. He reached me, made me see the light again and embrace it." He smiles fondly and bittersweetly before his face and eyes go blank. His breaths become shaky and his voice is a barely audible whisper, calm with the slightest tremble. "But by that point, it was too late. I didn't know I had succeeded until the damage was done. I regret what I did, Sakura. I do, I truly do."
My glare disappears as Sasuke's eyes go glassy with tears that he refuses to let fall. I lower the kunai, and back away. Whether he meant to or not, this is all still so painful, it still feels so fresh just three years later. But we were both Naruto's teammates… We both lost him, didn't we? Maybe I should look past Sasuke's mistake. Not forgive him, I don't know if I can forgive him for all the mistakes he's made, but move past it and see him for who he is now-
Just as I am about to reach out and try to comfort him a bit, although it pains me, a branch snaps to our left. Quickly getting ready to fight, they're both extremely surprised when a group of teenagers steps out, led by someone who looks strangely familiar...
"Wake up, Usagi-chan!"
I rub my eyes and turn over. "Five more minutes!" I shout to my roommate. He’s 18 and a half, with spiky blonde hair, tan skin, and piercing blue eyes with reddish flakes. He had shown up at my door one day with no place to go. We've been living together for the past year and a half, much to my Mamo-chan's upset. At least it was before he left... Naruto is very nice though, and we're only friends. I just don't like him that, and besides, he's the only one who knows about me and Mamoru's communication- or lack of it. Liking him in that way would just make thi-
My thoughts are interrupted as Naruto pulls my blanket away from me. "Come on, sleepy head! Even Luna is awake! We're going to be late to meet with the girls!" A glance at the ringing alarm clock tells me he’s right, making me bolt out of the bed.
"Why didn't you wake me up earlier!?" I scramble to get ready to go to Rei's place, half tempted to just use the Transformation Pen to get it done quicker.
"I tried! You would sleep through an earthquake, Usagi-chan!"
Choosing to ignore the comment, I run into the bathroom to change, somehow taking 10 minutes to do so. Still, it’s worth it, I decide, when I see myself in the pretty pink overalls with a white shirt underneath (I’m secretly copying Rei, though I'll never admit it). Running out to find Naruto ready, we head out towards the shrine.
"What do you think they found, Usagi-chan?" Naruto asks loudly, walking with his hands behind his head as usual.
"I don't know. Haruka sounded a bit worried on the call, so I bet it's something dangerous." Or something related to The Starlights... I keep that part to myself, though some part of me is hoping that it is… Those three are so interesting and mysterious! I wonder who they are... And are they really our enemies? They all seem vaguely familiar, like I know them from somewhere, but I just can't put my finger on it-
"Hey, guys!" Rei rushes over, startling me and making me trip! "Usagi! Are you okay, ya big klutz?"
“Who are you calling a big klutz? You’re the one who startled me! But yeah, I’m okay!" I tell Rei while getting up and rubbing my head. It hurts a little, but not too much, it should probably go away soon!
"You sure?" Naruto is always worried about me for no reason, it almost makes me feel like I have a brother! Or, maybe with how much he over protects, a helicopter parent.
"Yes, I'm sure!" I smile widely at him before turning to Rei. "So what did you guys find?"
"I'll explain when we get there." My very serious priestess friend says, rushing us up the stairs, to the room where the other girls are. It’s odd to see her so serious, something must be wrong. Inside the room, Ami is sipping tea, Minako is reading manga with Makoto reading over her shoulder, and Luna and Artemis are relaxing with Haruka and Michiru. On the table is a strange disc with symbols on it. Weird. I don’t recognise any of them, is it from this country? This planet?
I drag my stare away and instead look over everyone. "Hi everybody!" I’m met with a chorus of 'Hello Usagi!' and a hug from Minako.
"Now that everyone is here," Rei starts while picking up the disc, "we can start finding out about this disk!" She holds it high in the air, before passing it around, allowing everybody to look at it. It’s a little heavy for its size, but still pretty light, and even though it looks like black plastic, the material is cool and smooth like metal. When it reaches Naruto, he immediately goes wide-eyed.
"No way..." he whispers, looking at the strange device as if it has sprouted legs and started tap dancing. It’s especially weird, cause he almost looks nervous.
"What is it, Naruto? Do you know what it is?" Haruka asks, something akin to worry etched on her face, though it is slightly off… I wonder if Haruka also recognizes the disk? But it didn’t seem like it earlier, so…
"Nope! But I do know the metal symbol on top is the symbol of Konohagakure!" He takes out a headband with the same symbol on it. "My village!"
"That's where you're from?" Mako asks, her head tilted slightly. Naruto has never really gone into detail about where he came from, though we presumed it was really far away with little technology, seeing as he knew basically nothing about a lot of the things in Tokyo. He didn’t even know what a car was, and I thought those were everywhere in the world! Not to mention his weird thing about people having powers and stuff from right when he arrived. I may have thought he was a little crazy and bumped his head or something- But that’s besides the point. I look at Ami, because she typically knows stuff I don’t. "I've never heard about it," Ami adds after a moment of silence, though. If Ami doesn’t know about it, then it must be really far away.
Naruto seems to have expected that, because he just starts talking anyway. "Well, it's nothing like here. It's really cool, though it doesn't have cars and planes. Me and Sasuke teme and Sakura-chan were all shinobi there, and I was going to be the next Hokage-"
"Shinobi? Hokage? Can you explain a bit?" Michiru questions.
"Shinobi were warriors from feudal Japan," Ami supplies.
"And the Hokage is the leader of the village that everyone looks up to! They're strong and protect the village at all costs," Naruto explains excitedly, smiling the whole time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this impassioned about something, other than maybe ramen and his friends. "If this box is from there, then maybe I can go back home!"
"You couldn't go back before?" Minako questions softly, confused but looking empathetic.
Naruto's smile fades slightly at the question. "Unfortunately not, Minako. One second I was bleeding, about to succeed in dragging Sasuke back to the village, and the next I was hitting the pavement about to get hit by a car! That's why I'm excited!"
"Well, there's no guarantee that this will bring you back," Haruka tells him, and he frowns, "but even if it can, we don't know which button to press."
"Well, why don't we go one by one pressing all of them-"
"Good idea Usagi-chan!" Naruto interrupts before pressing one of the buttons, making everything and everyone float.
"I was going to say we should do it outside, Naruto!" I respond while hanging onto a chair. Naruto quickly turns it off and gets them back down with a loud thud. "Sorry everyone!"
Michiru sighs. "It's okay." Rei interrupts to protest the mess in the room but Michiru continues, as if no one had spoken, "Let's go outside and test the rest out while we're at it. But first," she gathers a spare piece of string from a failed craft, "everyone grab onto this, just in case."
We all shuffle outside, everyone holding onto a part of the string, before Naruto is given the okay to push another button. He pushes it and suddenly all the lights come on inside the shrine, along with the TV. "Woah!" He presses the other button above it and suddenly nothing would work. What sort of weirdo device does that? I’ve seen a lot of weird things before (try having a plant try and eat your boyfriend as two green aliens cheer it on) but this is especially crazy. "Cool!" He then returns things back to normal. Pressing another button got high gravity. Most of us, including me, could hardly breathe. Nobody could stand up. Naruto is rather quick to turn that one off. Then he hesitates.
There is one button left.
"Are you guys ready?" he asks, looking a mix of nervous and excited. After everyone nods, he presses it.
Instantly, a black portal opens up in front of us all. It’s huge! “What is that? Is it magic?” I ask loudly, not really expecting an answer.
“Princess! Stand back!” Haruka puts her arm in front of me, since when was I walking towards the portal? I really do have to pay more attention to what I’m doing.
Naruto walks even closer than me and Haruka are, smiling widely and telling her, “Relax, everyone! I’m pretty sure it’s safe! It kind of looks like something that a few individuals can do in Konoha!” Everyone, even me, is dumbfounded at that, but it honestly sounds pretty in line with all the other nonsense things he’s said. We look around, and I think everyone is thinking the same thing: We can’t definitely can’t stop him, not when he’s starting to run towards it, but we can’t let him go alone, can we?
"You guys go, I'll stay behind just in case." Mako said.
Rei nods. "I’ll stay with you, I need to stay and take care of the shrine anyway." They both stand together farther away from the portal. Then, Haruka and Michiru join them, Haruka saying she needs to stay to help defend Earth, just in case, and Michiru not saying anything, just following Haruka.
The rest of the girls nod at them and then I do too. Together, we all walk through right after Naruto.
As the portal touches my skin, everything feels cold and I feel weightless, like I’m swimming in a pool of ice water. I can barely get a breath in like I’m suffocating, and then I’m falling-
"Ouch!" Minako cries as I, in my haste to get up, accidentally kick her face. Looking around, there’s nothing but forest land all around them.
"Where are we?" Ami asks, already up as I help Minako stand. We look towards Naruto, who has an expression of pure excitement on his face.
"We're in my world! Come on!" He replies before he dashes away. Why is he suddenly so fast? I don’t remember him being nearly this quick before!
It takes a couple of minutes before we catch up to him. We find him around 13 yards away, looking at a woman staring at a whispering man. Does that lady have pink hair…?
"Sasuke... Sakura..." We hear him whisper. He sounds so sad, those must be the same Sasuke and Sakura he had mentioned early. He must have missed them so much, I would have gone crazy if I was stuck somewhere far away from the girls.
"Really?! I wanna see!" In her haste, Mina trips and falls, breaking a twig. Helping her up, Naruto no longer seems to see a point in hiding, so he then leads us all into the open wearing a big grin.
"Hi Sasuke, Sakura-chan!”