Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ren’s days tended to blur with one another. As usual, she rose before dawn and brewed a big thermos of coffee. After a short breakfast, it was out the door and onto her acreage. Rows of trees just on the verge of flowering, having shed thousands of healthy green leaves for bulbs of pink and white. The new growths sparkled hypnotically in the early morning light, each holding its own radiance.

‘Almost that time,’ she sipped from her thermos, surveying generations of labor and care. These grounds were her family’s legacy. For nearly twelve generations, they had tended every tree and sapling from dawn to dusk. Their cherries were renowned throughout the land, prized for both their flavor and their healing properties in homeopathic teas. Yet, despite the many trees, Ren found that cherries seldom grew, if at all.

​

Closing her eyes, Ren knelt and smoothed her hands over the soil. She quickly connected with the chakra network beneath the dirt, thriving in the tangled roots below. It was as if she merged with her own chakra system. Comforting warmth filled her, and mutual love and reverence washed through her in addictive waves.

​

‘Please, trim these branches.’

​

‘I need more water.’

​

Instinctual desires echoed from within. Humming, she opened her eyes and swept the sunhat from her neck onto her head, ignoring the threat of tears.

​

It was painful when loneliness took the place of the warmth in her chakra network as she disconnected. She remembered when she was younger and her mother had first shown her this technique. Just barely walking and already pressing her chubby fingers into the soft earth, to hear the little voices her mother spoke of. Consciously aware of a thrumming heartbeat in each tree as she toddled off to explore.

​

Never allowed to go to school or make friends. She never really needed any. It had always been Mama, Ren, and their orchard against the world.

​

—

​

Ren had been two or three years old when she first heard it.

​

Muffled crying came from her mama’s bedroom. Slowly, little Ren crawled from her bed. She tugged her favorite teddy along for protection. Quiet as a mouse—well, her mother had good hearing when it came to rodents—so as quietly as humanly possible for a toddler, she tiptoed to the door in front of her own room.

​

Her mother’s voice was sad. Ren felt that sadness. Her usually prompt and strict mother took longer to get up in the mornings. Even when Ren offered her a buttery biscuit, she didn’t brighten or eat more. Her mother’s honey-blonde hair dulled into straw, losing its usual softness and scent.

​

“Mama?” She called out tentatively, now in front of the door. The crying stopped immediately, and Ren clutched her plushy even tighter, “Do you want cuddles?”

​

The door opened. The room was dark, lit only by a low oil lamp. Ren’s precious mother lay unmoved in bed, just as that morning. Even her young mind knew it was strange. What had opened the door? Anxiety curled around her. She stepped inside and—

​

“Baby?” Her mother had breathed, sitting up and patting the spot next to her. She looked prettier somehow, like she used to.

​

Ren’s fear melted away, forgotten as she crawled into bed, cuddling closely to her mother’s side. The rest of that memory had been a blur, but a good one at least. She chalked it up to the fact that she was practically still a baby at that point.

​

All of her memories with her mom had been happy ones, as far as she could remember. She wasn’t even sure why this had come to mind so suddenly. Maybe because it was the last time she had seen her. Before she walked away from little Ren’s life forever, even then, she didn’t feel particularly sad.

​

It seemed to be what their family members did at some point—leave without explanation.

​

Maybe someday Ren would follow them, too, wherever they went. The trees needed her, though.

​

—

​

Today was a hard day.

Wheezing, Ren fell onto her worn couch, her breath ragged. Her heart hammered like a trapped bird, skin slick with sticky sweat. Her hands, reddened and etched with tiny scratches, were grimy. Small scars crisscrossed her hands and arms, white and raised like the moon, marks that stood out against sun-darkened skin. The house, with its sturdy wooden frame, exposed its age in every flaw. She glanced at a kitchen sink piled high with dirty dishes.

She really should be taking better care of herself and her home. There was little time to do so before and after work, though. Everything she had ever learned was either from literature or a cloudy, nearly forgotten past.

​

Recently, Ren had started falling apart the moment she walked through the door. The only comfort was the lack of daylight. She mustered the strength to close the blinds, blocking the persistent glow of the orchard. After a hard day of work, she would usually prepare a hot meal and go straight to bed, but she hardly had the energy to stand for more than a moment now.

​

Her muscles ached, her cheeks ached, as if she had been smiling throughout the day. What was there to smile about out there?

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For the first time, a cloudiness in Ren’s mind began to dissipate. She wasn’t sure what was out there beyond the acres of expectations and routines, but she could dream. Something so terrifying that it made her chest constrict tightly.

​

Away from the protection these walls gave her. Away from the sweet air of cherry blossoms. Away from a bookcase filled to the brim with textbooks and almanacs across the ages.

Everything she knew was in this room.

Everything she’d ever loved was behind a fence.

Ren sat, staring at the dirt beneath her fingernails and the bits of blood. She wavered in her diligence. She had never felt this way before—this urge to run away from everything that was passed down to her. Ren swallowed, noting her thirst. Even with a glass of cold water, her mind wandered. The same curiosity and thirst for more invaded her after finishing one of the many books tucked in her shelves.

After she’d discovered the many scrolls her mother stashed in the bedroom, she had been thrown into a much more interesting and dangerous world than she initially believed. Her mother hid a treasure trove of information just under her bed. The same area where little Ren would hide when the thunder clapped too loudly outside and the winds shook their home.

Ren groaned as she stood up; her joints ached and cracked like something furious. Kicking off her boots, she tossed them in the direction of her door, not caring if they reached the mat or not. She trudged sleepily up the stairs, and her hand glided up the railing as she went. She passed by the room at first, sleep pulling her to her own bed like a kind lover. Something within her made her stop. It made her turn around and enter the relatively neat room of her late mother.

Well, dead or not, she wasn’t sure anymore. Ren wasn’t sure what to think; like a barrier in her mind was keeping her from asking too many questions. To just shut up and work herself to the bone. Her mother was there, and then she wasn’t. No physical body, no letters, nor any traces of her presence. Except for this very room.

So many nights, she would curl up in these covers to press herself into any lingering scent there. Something other than sakura blossoms and old wood. There was nothing left in this air, wiped clean just as fast as she was gone. An emptiness that could only be filled with the familiar scent of homemade soap and another akin to that of the sun.

Ren knelt and reached under the bed, sliding a large brown box out and into the open. She pulled out paper scrolls one by one, each umbilicus a different color or material. Copper here, painted wood there, it made it easy for her to differentiate each, the contents of which were known by heart. There on the side of one was a marking in pen, of a little flower. Her thumb unconsciously swept over it.

Here is where she first learned that the life energy coursing through and connecting to each part of her was called ‘chakra’. It was where she learned different techniques that helped her work on a day-to-day basis. Ren spent so many hours memorizing each word, gesture, and movement. This knowledge that she was sure would have been passed on to her had they had more time together.

She unfurled one in particular; it held no secrets, no new information. The paper was quite yellowed, and the ink was barely visible, having almost entirely faded in some parts. There at the top, though, was a small drawing in red ink—a heart with her name in the middle.

Outside of her farmwork, Ren found little enjoyment in other things. She rarely felt sad about different things or got angry. It was as if someone had built an impenetrable wall around her heart. She coasted through life in black and white, but when connected to her orchard, it was only then that she felt a burst of pure color.

This little heart and its little letters, tucked at the bottom edge of the well-worn paper, made her feel small again. It was a fundamental truth, something tangible and real, and in her hands—blurred memories of looking over her mother’s shoulder, or making food together.

Her mother was gone, but this trace of her remained. It was real. She was real. Not just some ghost of her past. This information always sat heavy in the back of her mind, hiding in an abandoned bedroom, lurking beneath its bed like a persistent ghost.

​

Something about this room made her feel more herself, too. Like she could sit here and daydream to her heart’s content, it felt like the trees out there were so alive they watched her every little move. Here, she was finally alone. Climbing onto the soft mattress of her mother’s bed, she lay the scroll beside her and let her mind wander away beyond her livelihood tied to this orchard.

A world where a girl like her could sleep in till dusk, maybe even have a friend or two. Read more books than she could count, and have a dessert made of something aside from excess cherry preserves. Ren wanted a first kiss.

​

She was nearly twenty. Seventeen years of painstaking labor, day in and day out. Ren had suffered countless hours under the harsh rays of the burning sun and just as many finger-numbing winters. There was never an off-season. Not with these special trees. Especially not for the clients who requested her special cherries.

Clients who came unannounced at the same time every year. Ren couldn’t place their faces or names, yet she could, without fail, tell they would be arriving from the existential level dread that would fuel her to work harder the days leading up to it. It pushed her beyond her limits, often past sunset. Making sure each tree was cared for to the utmost best of her abilities, until she was sure they would each yield at least one precious cherry. If she put her mind to it, she could make out the distinct, vibrant red of one’s eyes, as well as the penetrating violet gaze of the other.

Now that she thought of it, she couldn’t remember anything about the transactional process to begin with. Were there any goods exchanged? Money? Before she could continue with her theories, her eyes drooped closed.

As she faded from consciousness, she decided, the next morning, Ren would take some time to explore a little outside this property, just as her mother and foremothers had done at some point in their lives.

She deserved a much-needed vacation.

​

—

​

Tomorrow became the day after, then Thursday, and then Saturday. Days continued to blur together. How could Ren be so busy despite being her own boss?

​

Was she the boss?

​

There was a buzzing behind her skull. The trees fully bloomed unexpectedly last night. Or was it the other…

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Soon they’d begin to produce cherries.

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Very soon.

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‘Mama, you didn’t just leave, did you?’

​

—

​

She woke up outside, covered head to toe in dirt, and leaned against a smaller tree, one right by the side of her home. Something was changing within her, a coiling red-hot feeling in her gut. Ren was terrified and surprised by its intensity. Adrenaline caused her heart to race like an old motor. Was what was happening so dire? Her hands shook considerably as she stared at their calluses and scars. Each one melting away, revealing soft, unmarred skin. “What... what is this?”

​

‘Find the door,’ something cried and echoed within her mind. ‘Break the seal!’

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“Who are you!?” Ren cried out, curling up within herself. “Leave me be!”

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‘You’ll be lost. Just like me.’

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She bit her lip, looking toward the closed gate, “I… What if I’m more lost out there? They need me here.”

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‘BREAK THE SEAL’

​

A force blew her away from her spot as she cried out in surprise and terror. Energy so potent it felt as if a solid wall had slammed into her, ramming her toward the gate of her home.

​

Ren coughed, gasping for breath as the sharp taste of iron flooded her mouth. Coughing, bright blood splattered onto the ground before her. She tried pushing herself back up, but hot tears welled up from a pain within her upper abdomen. Maybe a broken rib?

​

Looking up toward the gate, she dragged herself toward it, fighting through every impulse telling her to turn back. Reaching forward to grip the rickety old metal, hoping to support some of her weight, Ren flinched back, hissing on contact. Her hand was red and nearly steaming.

​

Helplessly, she looked around, hoping for a sign, answers, anything!

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Then a sound like the tapping of little fingers pulled her focus toward a rusted old padlock. Clearly, it hadn’t aged well. Red and well-worn from years of weathering the rain and sunshine. There was something there, though. A dark signature poured from it. Something she had sensed on her daily walks around the perimeter. It haunted her sleep, filled her with a level of dread.

​

It smelled of sakura blooms, fresh blood…

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And her mother

​

—

​

​They had been traveling for days, marching through a seemingly endless forest on the eastern border of the Land of Fire, when Sakura noticed something peculiar. A fluctuating border, nearly translucent. A nearly missable bubble of energy in the middle of their path.

“Wait, stop. I think something’s here,” a pink-haired girl voiced, stopping in her tracks. She placed her hands forward, feeling the barest hints of chakra emitting before her, so delicate she could pass through without a single indication that something was there. Yet, the more she focused, the more of this so-called bubble was revealed.

“Your chakra sensitivity has improved quite a bit, Sakura,” the white haired shinobi replied, closing his eyes.“It can’t be… can it? A wall?”

​

Sakura glanced up at her sensei, curiosity and skepticism swimming in her bright eyes, “Sensei… I’ve only ever felt this level of suppression before in-”

​

“In me, right?” Naruto spoke up. He had matured, albeit a little, much to everyone’s surprise. After the fourth war, everyone had grown in some way. “Kurama may have some advice.” He focused as he prepared to commune with the ancient being within.

​

Sasuke stayed silent, analyzing a wall of chakra, maybe 40 to 50m tall, spanning as far as he could see. Even without his Sharingan, he sensed something was off. To an unsuspecting individual, there was merely more forestry in front. But to someone of the Uchiha bloodline…

​

‘No one person could do this, surely…’ he theorized slowly. ‘Not only a barrier of space, but time as well… maybe a forgotten member of my clan, or an Otsutsuki?’

​

“Could it be… the work of a fūinjutsu specialist?” Sakura’s tone was uncertain, but there was no denying. Something was hiding within this perimeter and or keeping everyone else out.

​

“There’s been no wildlife for the last kilometer we’ve traveled,” Kakashi supplied thoughtfully. “Sasuke, you look troubled. Moreso than usual.”

​

Biting back a witty remark, he mentally rolled his eyes, “I see multiple chakra signatures, but I can’t be certain if it’s the work of hundreds of people or a few skilled individuals. They also seem off in a way I can’t quite put my finger on.” He leaned in closer. “Something about the movement flows inconsistently to the chakra in our land. Almost heavier, slower. A pocket dimension in an unsuspecting forest.”

Naruto spoke up, “I can’t sense a seal or 'door', either.”​ He looked down at his hand, “...Should I try using my Rasengan on it?”

Kakashi patted the boy’s shoulder, “Perhaps, not the wisest choice. Especially since we don’t fully know what we’re dealing with. It might backlash onto all of us.” Sasuke internally changed his mind about using Chidori to test the barrier’s strength.

“It might have been by ritual, maybe etched into the ground?” Sakura supposed and crouched to analyze the forest floor. “That’s… so strange. There’s no trace of anything. No footprints. Maybe if I scout the perimeter?”

​

Naruto brought up, “Kurama knows where we might find the seal point, but it might be a bit tricky.”

​

“Don’t tell me. It’s inside?” Kakashi drawled, stroking his masked chin, deep in thought.

“Eh? You can’t let me have this, sensei?” the jinchuriki pouted.

​

“And who’s to say the timeline within will match ours?” Sasuke continued, ignoring his friend. ‘So much for maturity...’

​

Kakashi mulled over this newfound information. Initially, their mission had been to scout out this region for any additional threats or post-war coups. This place could not have evaded everyone’s radar; even a lower-class shinobi could tell something was off. Many types of chakra signatures, lightning, earth, fire, and, from what Sasuke said, some unknown. This size, too; it wouldn’t be wise to rule out the possibility of there being a genjutsu at play. Maybe being akin to a Tsukiyomi?

​

“Whatever is going on, I don’t like it,” Naruto frowned. Everyone was a little on edge nowadays, so precautions like this mission were necessary to ease the minds of the general public, as well as the shinobi. This place was bad news. “I can smell blood in the grass. But almost like burnt iron. And… sakura?”

​

“What?” The pink-haired shinobi replied.

​

“No, sorry, it’s just… it smells like cherry blossoms. Pretty strongly. Not like the ones back home. Kinda off.” Naruto sniffed a little more intensely and squinted to help himself smell better. Sakura couldn’t sigh.

​

Kakashi noted the leaves and flora around them, which were turning varying shades of yellow, red, and orange. There was a chill in the air, and most common insects had disappeared. “They’re also not in season. So, let’s assume Sasuke’s theory is correct and we are dealing with something akin to a dimensional pocket. I think we’d all benefit from finding a solution quickly,” Kakashi surmised, as patient as ever while flipping through a beloved volume of Icha Icha. “Uzumaki, you’re getting pretty good at seal releases by now, no?”

​

Naruto hesitated, “My father… I know he was famous for it, but I only really know how to regulate things with Kurama. By now we’re pretty good buddies anyway, though. He’s my bro.” There was that wide, care-free grin.

​

Sasuke let out a noise between a snort and a laugh. Of course, he’d managed to befriend the legendary creature. That’s when he noticed something, “It’s a little hazy from the amount of chakra in front of us, but I can sense a lifeform. Only one. I think it’s a girl.”

​

“A prisoner… for lord knows how long. It makes me sick,” Sakura clenched her jaw and unconsciously moved closer to the Uchiha, feeling comfort in the blanket that was his aura. She steeled herself and raised her head high in determination. “What are the odds that she’s being kept prisoner for safety purposes?”

​

“There’s a chance, but no one deserves to die a prisoner,” Sasuke closed his eyes, reaching deeper within. They opened, glowing a deep purple, swirling with restrained power. His Rinnegan. Lowering his head, he softly said, “I don’t think she has much time left. Her life signature is waning.”

​

Naruto panicked, blue orbs blown wide with it, “Whoa! Okay, Sasuke, do your teleportation thingy! We’ve gotta do something.”

​

Sasuke withdrew from his power and groaned, his head pounding, “That’s not something I can whip out on the go. You know it doesn’t work like that.”

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“You’ve used it to go to different dimensions before. Why not this time?” Naruto asked, shocked.

​

“We’re all recovering post-war,” Sasuke gritted. “I’ve been training, but portal creation isn’t exactly the easiest on my body and requires a lot of chakra. Maybe you could ask the oversized cat inside you to lend a hand,” He rebutted, unseriously.

​

“You’re such a crow-head.”

​

Their relationship had improved drastically since their last fight, and while they still poked at one another, there was no bite to their words.

​

“Is this really the time for cheap jabs!? Knock it off.” Sakura growled and knocked them both upside the head. “Kakashi-sensei, what can we do?” She asked, fists steaming. “I’ve only read the basics about this type of jutsu, definitely not enough to release it. If this is truly a dimensional pocket, it might be out of our skill levels.”

​

The masked ninja closed his book with a crisp clap, “No matter how complicated the problem, we can always rely on the basics. ‘Fall seven times, get up eight,’ as they say. However, we might also be under a time limit. I’d suspect we have ten or so minutes to figure out a way to break this seal; otherwise, our memories may be sealed as well. Might explain why this place wasn’t on anyone’s radar.”

​

Sakura sighed, “That’s just peachy. Nobody cared to bring this up earlier?” ‘Men, I swear to god.’

“I thought you knew,” Naruto rubbed the top of his throbbing head and groaned, another shiny knot forming on top of the other. Sakura sure did pack a punch. “What I don’t get is… I mean, what’s the deal here? We’re in the middle of nowhere; the nearest town is a good hundred kilometers back. This forest goes on and on. What’s the motive?”

​

“Bad things tend to happen outside of prying eyes,” Sakura tried with a weak shrug, but even she knew that was too simple an explanation.

​

“You’re telling me we have an absolute monster of a wall blocking us from what I’m sensing is acres of land. My instincts are telling me there’s more than meets the eye. Am I imagining things, pretty boy?”

The Uchiha nodded after a moment, “There might be a functioning brain in you yet, Uzumaki.” Naruto smiled, eyebrow twinging a bit at the backhanded compliment. “This was a ritual casting. Where are the traces of shinobi? Something of this magnitude would’ve taken years, and an unimaginable amount of chakra. Yet, all I can sense is this barrier and the one living being inside.”

​

“And with jutsus this advanced… how were they able to find hundreds of masters to cooperate, coordinate, and maintain the longevity of this barrier?” Sakura finished, her heart beating quickly at the magnitude of her realization.

“It’s possible if they have an external source, used to farm enough chakra passively. Like a collection of human batteries,” Kakashi added a bit too cheerfully, eyes smiling despite the grim situation. “Naruto… that’s brilliant. Especially for you.”

​

The blond beamed and laughed happily, rubbing the back of his neck before he paused and shouted, “Oi! I’m not some monkey! Believe it!”

​

“Could’ve fooled me,” Sasuke just couldn’t help himself.

​

“Maybe it’s also via bloodline? One whose speciality falls within the sphere of fūinjutsus and genjutsus…” Sakura paced and theorized, massaging her knuckles as Naruto and Sasuke lay on the ground like a pair of twitching bugs.

​

Kakashi sighed a well-worn sigh. Maturity be damned. These kids had all the power in the world, but they’d always just be kids. “Hmm... You’re suggesting this is the work of a Kekkei Genkai? That may not be a bad theory.”

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“Time’s nearly run out,” Sasuke chimed in seriously, wincing as he stood back up.

​

“Isn’t the most logical answer to unlock the door from the inside?” Naruto rubbed his head, and an almost comical knot formed at the top. “We can’t get in, but maybe if we could reach the girl somehow and express to her that we want to help…”

​

“Naruto! That’s it!” Sakura squealed excitedly, “I got it! Sasuke, break my fall. I learned this little trick from Ino.” She smirked, expression then calm as she performed a variety of hand signals. “Mind… Transmission.” Bright green eyes rolled to the back of her head as her body went limp. Sasuke shoved Naruto out of the way and caught her, slowly lowering her until she was lying down.

​

“Why am I getting beaten up so much…” Naruto muttered quietly, rubbing his arm. “I’m gonna be a future hokage, y’know. Believe it.” He whimpered like a wounded puppy.

​

Kakashi knelt, feeling slight concern for his pink-haired pupil, “This could take a while. We should probably have a failsafe in mind in case it does.”

​

“I won’t be affected by this genjutsu as you two will. I’d suggest you both move farther out to gather more evidence or clues. I’ll stand guard here,” Sasuke moved more comfortably at her side. ‘Like a loyal crow, or more like a spicy black cat.’

​

Kakashi nodded to Naruto, and they both set off at a blurring speed. Taking the liberty to summon some friends to scout ahead.

​

—

​

Sakura had seen many things in her 18 years of life. Betrayal amongst family, friends, lovers. Bloodshed that cut deeper than mere wounds. There was an innocence that was lost the moment she began seriously training to be a shinobi.

​

Gone were the days of flower picking and worrying about what hairstyle went with what outfit. Caring about boys and their fickle opinions. Such trivialities seemed thousands of miles away nowadays.

​

She was stronger. What she lacked in physical strength, she made up for in intelligence and determination. The world was not black and white, nor was it all fairytale endings. She envied those who were foolish enough to believe so. Sometimes, larger forces were at play. So large that the average person would never truly conceive their magnitude, if the facts weren’t placed right before them. Risking the livelihoods of everyone they had ever cared for and loved.

​

Even grander than the scope of a mere hokage. Which hurt to think about, since there was a time when Konoha’s village hokage were historically respected and adored. All intelligent and the modicum of grace and power. Masters of tactics and defense. She’d passed their mighty rock faces daily on her way to the academy, dreaming of her own face up there. Not that she’d ever tell Naruto that.

​

Even a Hokage could fail, fall into greed, and take lives as a result.

​

The scale was now intergalactic, a struggle for dominance and utmost power. Many of Sakura’s friends had evolved and gotten stronger, trained their whole lives to do so. Along the way, many of close friends were buried and gone. Teachers. Brothers.

​

She had been itching to get out of Konoha. As much as she loved her family, it wasn’t the same. She wasn’t the same, even if all they ever did was shower her with undeniable support.

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Sakura was just lucky to have her team back. While things were still very new with Sasuke, she was happy to see him more healed than before. There was an openness now that was often foreign to her immature concepts of love. He was human, attainable, and a catch, but she was the one to ask to take things slow. She was her own person and took a lot of pride in that, thank you very much!

​

The fact that they were all now reunited, even for a few short missions, she’d take her blessings where she could get them. Sakura may still be young, but those days of training late into the night, eating ramen together, joking, laughing. They were some of the best memories she’d ever had.

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She was determined to get stronger, so that everyone could live in peace and make happy memories again.

​

Right now, there was a girl in need that Sakura was determined to save.

Chapter Text

Ren was restrained, despite fighting with all her might. Roots had burst from the ground, grabbing her by the ankles and wrists. With a valiant burst of adrenaline, she’d managed to break away, ripping out a good chunk of coiled root like muscle. Screaming at the top of her lungs as she dodged and rolled away from any oncoming attacks.

​

‘The trees… how could this be happening?’ This mysterious yet all too familiar force filled Ren’s head with the scent of cherries. It nearly blindsided her as she fought to regain control over her vision.

​

Sensing an oncoming attack from behind, she ducked her head and readied herself once more. Taking a moment to glance at the gate, the dreaded lock with no key, she swerved toward that direction.

​

The great mass of roots twitched, multiplying in size as more joined the frey. Ren was fighting like a cornered animal. Blood dripped from her mouth, nose, and tear ducts as she pushed herself to focus her chakra into them to predict her enemy's movements better. Her lungs hurt, ribs shot to all hell, and with no real professional self-defense training, she was tanking more hits than she would’ve liked. Everything she learned was self-taught or from her books.

​

Eventually, the hulking mass of roots formed a corkscrew shape, threateningly rotating like one big drill. Leaves had grown around its sides, forming patterns and symbols, a language Ren didn’t recognize. It watched her and waited for her next move. 

​

“You big pile of firewood! I should’ve burned you to the ground ages ago!” Ren spat in their direction. She breathed quickly as it moved to strike where she stood. Forming several hand seals, as instructed in some dusty ninjutsu manual she read on a rainy day, she quickly performed a lifesaving jutsu.

​

“Wind Release! Gale Palm!” Pointing her hands toward the ground behind her, a burst of wind launched her to the right, just before her enemy struck the gate.

​

“N-no way…” she muttered in horror and defeat. It stayed standing. The rickety piece of garbage was closed shut. “Wh-What the hell do I do now?”

​

Ren tried standing, but found she was restrained in her moment of panic. Tendrils of flora slowly creeping up her legs and arms, holding her to the earth that crumbled, threatening to swallow her whole.

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“Help!” She cried. Desperately clawing at anything within her limited range for solid purchase. It was all she could do. “Someone help! Mama! Mama!”

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Then, she was silent, the familiar warmth pulsating through her body, drawing her chakra from her. Weakly, she tried to struggle, a captured fly in a spider’s nest. “You’re… such a…bastard…I’ll rip you out… like the weed… You are…” Her head was in the clouds now. A tear clouded with blood trailed down her cheek in quiet defiance as a pink glow showed through her veins.

​

Pain melted, giving way to fuzzy goodness as if Ren had been stuffed with the softest down in the world—a perfect sense of security.

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She thought of being held in her mother’s arms.

​

—

​

“She’s still …?” Naruto’s question trailed off. He had stopped by to check on his teammates. Kakashi was busy setting up camp not too far away for the night.

​

Sasuke nodded and stoked the fire next to them, its wandering embers dissipating past the barrier. “Anything?”

​

“No. Kakashi-sensei and I went everywhere, even lay in wait for a few hours, but there wasn’t any activity.”

​

Sakura murmured something too quiet to pick up. Her brows furrowed in concentration. The shinobi’s tenacity had always been admirable. “Hey, you can relax a bit, you know.”

​

“Someone has to keep watch,” Sasuke affirmed stubbornly. “Plus, it’s not like you two can. With the genjutsu and all. Unless you’ve already forgotten.”

​

Naruto sat down with a long breath, “We discussed it at length, but we both think I’ll at least be fine. Kurama is thankfully giving me a level of resistance towards any genjutsu. Kakashi is fine camping alone.”

​

They settled into a comfortable silence, watching over their hardworking teammate. The crackle of their fire created a relaxed ambiance despite the seriousness of the task at hand. “I wish there was more that we could do. I don’t like having her fight alone,” the blond said honestly. While his childhood crush had faded, he still cared deeply for his pink-haired ally.

​

Sasuke huffed a breath, “You’re lucky she doesn’t hear you say that, or we’d both be in trouble.”

​

With a laugh, Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, “I’d feel worried about any of my friends in this situation. Especially you, my darling little flower.” He giggled, making kissy noises towards Sasuke and inching closer. The dark-haired ninja just sighed, ‘Still a moron. ’

​

“Not worried enough to come back with the food we spent so much time gathering, Narutoooo,” A hand clutched the top of Naruto’s head suddenly. Sasuke and he jumped, having not noticed their sensei immediately. Kakashi was pissed.

​

“Eep! Sensei!” Shrieked the jinchuriki and hero of Konohagakure. “My head!-”

​

“Get. Going,” ordered the demon in the mask. Naruto scurried away with his metaphorical tail between his legs.

​

Sasuke analyzed his teacher critically for a minute. “A bit early. You can feel something’s wrong?”

​

Kakashi knelt, placing a hand over Sakura’s sweaty forehead. While her chakra was in use, it was being siphoned away at this rate. Dangerously so. “I think she may have been a bit too eager to jump into this plan. Looks like she, too, became one of those ‘human batteries.’”

​

Sasuke swallowed, his expression subtly reflecting his inner conflict. The sight of her, unmoving, as the firelight cast a flickering, warm glow over her form. He had left for all that time. If not for Naruto and her, he’d still be at war with his heart and mind. While the blond had been the driving force to look beyond his fury, to take his darkness and use it for good. Sakura was the one who waited patiently. She was a rock in the torrential flood that was his life.

​

Let him do this for her now, and any other time she needed him to trust in her strength. Failure wasn’t a realistic result because this was Sakura they were talking about. If she did falter on her way to success, he would be her wings, her crutch, or the springboard to launch her to the goal.

​

—

​

“What… what is this…” Even in spectral form, Sakura could feel herself go cold. Everything she had seen made little to no sense, and yet there it was plain as day. Logic told her she’d see traces of life, cherry trees, and a girl in peril. Only one of those guesses was true.

​

This girl was malnourished and forcefully strapped to a gurney with both feeding and breathing tubes shoved up her nose and down her throat, respectively. Tears streamed down her pale, sweaty face, obviously in distress. Her eyes were wide with terror, pupils blown wide, twitching around like she was seeing something not there.

​

Sakura could tell what it was. When Sasuke revealed his truths to her, or trembled in his sleep. When he looked like he was a thousand miles away. Witnessing his parents die hundreds of thousands of times over at such a young age, the emotional weight of having his whole clan eviscerated. His thirst for revenge was great back then, but now he was left picking up the pieces of a broken psyche, and the all-consuming regret of detesting and killing his once beloved older brother.

​

Sakura knew if he wasn’t staying busy and left alone in his thoughts, all that would course through his mind were images of his mother’s hair drenched in a pool of blood and his stoic father silenced forever by her side. Or the feeling of Itachi playfully poking him on the forehead.

​

Those images never left his mind. Itachi wasn’t the enemy, and she knew that now, but she didn’t think she could ever forgive him for what happened to Sasuke, even if it led him to unlocking unfathomable power.

​

She could feel this was akin to the power of a Tsukoyomi and had to have been active for some time. As far as she knew, no one outside the Uchiha bloodline could possess such an ability; this required further investigation—first, with the prisoner.

​

This girl had blonde colored hair, the exact shade she couldn’t make out due to the dim lighting, and the fact that it looked like she hadn’t showered in some time. A smattering of freckles on her pallored face. She could tell the girl was pretty, probably more so with more meat on her bones.

​

Sakura was furious, though. She wanted to help more. To rip these predatory devices off of this poor girl and go to town with some healing jutsu. Who else took pride in being a world-class medic after all?

​

“Hey... Can you hear me?” She called out tentatively. The girl didn’t react. Only when she stepped forward did her dark green eyes snap toward her direction. A certain level of clarity behind them. Whatever she was seeing, Sakura was thankful that she at least saw her as an ally.

​

“This place is feeding off of you,” she tried explaining. “If you can somehow hear me, please, find the strength to remove these tubes and leave.”

​

No response.

​

“Move your foot if you understand?”

​

Sakura flinched back when the girl slammed her foot into the gurney, eyes glazed over and streaming with more tears. Inching forward, she placed a ghostly hand over the other’s, “It’ll… it’ll be okay, I promise you. Just focus now, and I’ll help you the rest of the way as best I can. My friends and I are waiting on the other side.”

​

Her vision flickered slightly, and suddenly she was there. It was all in front of her, this vast orchard, an old farmer’s shack, and something holding this poor girl down. Swallowing back her surprise, Sakura stayed by the hostage’s side. “You’re stronger than you know. I swear it. These are just weeds.”

​

The girl laughed, a weak and pitiful noise that tore at Sakura’s core. “I… hear you, spirit. Have you finally come to take me away?”

​

“I’m no-” Sakura stopped herself, pushing on. “I’ve come to save you. But you need to focus your chakra in your mind; otherwise, the ugly plant monster wins its stupid game."

​

“…’kay,” she rasped. Sakura could barely hear her. The blonde reached up toward the shinobi’s hair. “Pink…”

​

A little flustered, she moved away, “Get confident with your control. Focus. Build a wall in your brain, allowing only your chakra to flow throughout your body. Nothing leaves, just focus on building a barrier.”

​

The girl nodded, falling into a peaceful, meditative state, lying so still that Sakura felt the need to hold her breath. From how small and broken the blonde appeared, she looked close to death’s door. Hopefully, they could figure something out before it came to that.

​

“Get out of me,” she chanted. “You don’t own my body anymore. It’s mine. It’s my body.” Her mantra gave her confidence.

​

“Just like that! Keep going!” Sakura cheered, elated. “This is your power used against you. All of this world was built leached from your chakra. When you’re ready, let it build up inside of you and release it in one powerful burst!” It should set her free from a lifetime of illusions and lies.

​

The girl was silent and opened her eyes, a once tired defiance building more and more, like the energy she was growing within her soul, “It’s taken all of my chakra for all these years… I want it back.” Black tendrils of energy solidified along her flesh the more she absorbed. They weaved and intertwined as she took it all in.

​

Sakura paused in shock. Chakra was becoming a part of her, inside and out, but dangerously so. She needed to change tactics quickly; otherwise, this girl would be lost forever. “Miss! Please, stop and listen to what I said! Don’t let it consume you!” She could see that the girl was crying. “We need to focus on breaking you out of this genjutsu-”

​

“I don’t want this parasite to have any more of me! I’m taking it all back! I know it took her!” A crazed look sparked through the girl’s eyes, revealing more of a glowing green. “It ate my mother!” Tears glimmered when they hit the ground, sprouting vines that weakly reached toward the plant-being, before dying seconds after.

She grabbed onto the roots, cutting into her sides. Sakura could feel it before she heard anything. Even in this form, her hair stood at its ends. The air was electric with raw chakra building, amassing around the monster. It watched her in what Sakura could only assume was curiosity, its pointed heads spinning from one direction to the other. There was a creaking sound that came from the being. Malicious and cold, it laughed, mimicking that of a human woman.

This creature grew, with more and more wooden tendrils exploding from the ground around itself, morphing into an assuming tree.

Its trunk peeled away, revealing a woman’s head, nearly decayed and unconscious. Sakura’s hand flew to her mouth. She herself had been placed in a genjutsu many times, but was skilled enough to dispel them soon after. She knew of the personal horrors they conjured from the deep-rooted fears and inner demons hidden away in one’s psyche.

“Ren, my dear,” the corpse sang with a crooked grin, its expression morphing into one of torment and agony. “Save me!”

The girl’s expression, Ren’s, turned dark. Her hair whipped around her in violent fury. Squeezing the roots more in her hands, crying out in pain as she took in more, more chakra, all of it. She would erase this abomination before her.

Then the roots around her fell and decayed into ash, their life energy sucked into the girl like a power vacuum. ‘If I weren’t so horrified, I’d be impressed at how large this girl’s reserves are.’

The creature with Ren’s mother’s face twisted into something indescribable as it screamed in her face. Begging for its life while demeaning the girl, all while it burned away bit by bit.

Sakura could feel her connection to this form wavering. “Hey! Not meaning to spoil anything, but you’re kinda sucking me up too!”

​

“I-I’m sorry!” The green-eyed girl looked panicked again. One of her hands grabbed the other that was still gripping the roots around her, unable to pull off. “I don’t think I can stop it! I-it’s my fault! Please, go while you can!” she yelped when she ultimately released, the creature attempting to escape by digging underground again. Ren screamed and lunged toward it. Holding it above, causing her to fall to a knee out of pure stubbornness.

Fake or not, it made a mockery of her mother. So, now it must die.

“Go! Quickly! Let me do this! Let me kill it!” She yelled out as the dark tendrils marking her skin spread more.

​

The pink-haired shinobi stood her ground, “No…I won’t leave you! Please- Ren, right? Release your chakra! Disturb the frequency that this land feeds off of you!” Sakura could feel her heart tightening. “You have to let go. Or else it will kill you.”

​

“I’ve never done this before!” she sobbed, tired of it all, and dropped her hold. The beast took its chance to dig its own grave. Ren hugged herself, shaking as cries wracked through her form. Reaching forward, her hands vainly searched the soil pile in front of her, only to find no trace of the beast left. Little flowers sprouted and died in quick succession around her body. “This is all I’ve ever known. How can I leave... it took her.”

Ren’s inner conflict was palpable. The air was alight, morphing and quivering around them in pure energy. For a moment, Sakura thought back to a certain loud-mouthed jinchuriki. “I’ve never done this either… but we’ll figure out the rest together. Whatever happened to your mom, let’s find out the truth. Let’s bring her justice together.”

​Sakura moved forward and placed a ghostly hand on the tormented girl’s shoulder, “You will get stronger from all this pain. Just believe...” her voice faded into nothing but a whisper, followed by her body, “I know... You can do it... Ren.”

The pink-haired stranger was gone, leaving Ren alone with her hope that everything would turn out okay. It was in Ren’s hands now.

She considered her options, her head tilted up toward the sky. The blue color was long gone, replaced by a clear night littered with countless gem-like twinkles. Never had she seen such a sight. Her attention was drawn downward, to the black tendrils that reached up her legs and arms. They stung and burned with every shift; the pain gave her clarity in all her grief. Once again, Ren closed her eyes and refocused.

Blonde hair whipped around as the wind wrapped around her. It lifted her off the ground, kicking up plumes of dust and dirt. She grunted in exertion as she fought against an invisible force, pointing her palms toward her childhood home. Ren could almost smell her mother’s rare cherry pies, the creak of the old floorboards, and the mat where she always would toss her work boots and miss.

​

How much of this life had been a lie, she no longer knew. There wasn’t any point in dwelling on it anymore. She was choosing to live and pursue knowledge. She would be throwing her future away for doctored memories.

Even now, the genjutsu was hard at work trying to skew her reality and mind.

Sweetness. It slowly began to fill Ren’s mind with the scent of cherry syrup.

She was so tired of this feeling. Like the pawn of a losing game. “Piss off!” She roared, a burst of light forming from her own two hands.

​

Family traditions, history, and sacrifice. It all didn’t matter in the end. It was just Ren and the unknown. If she fucked up her future, that was to be her decision and hers alone. That explosive energy reached her childhood home. She watched it, demolished and burning in flames. Ren sat for a little while as it fell to pieces. Long enough to wonder if maybe she should pinch herself to escape this never-ending nightmare.

She woke up with a start.

For once, she could feel the cold suffocating tubes down her throat. Like roots deep within her body, keeping her just alive enough on nutrients and oxygen. All while sapping her of her identity, her chakra. All while keeping her as docile and pliant as the countless plants she encouraged to grow. Mustering up the strength for one last feat, she ripped them from her body, tossing them away.

Choking and coughing all the while, she took her first real breath. It filled her aching lungs with pure happiness. She felt in this moment that she could die filled with this emotion. Not forced upon her, nor followed with a crushing sadness, not marred with the saccharine sweetness of cherries.

​

All she could do was savor the moment. Her first breath as a free woman.

​

Ren smiled. A big, bright, victorious smile as tears poured unbidden from her. She experienced pain, sadness, joy, and fear. Nothing was wrong with that. As her mind flew away and escaped the confines of her flesh, her final thought brought her the most joy of all.

​

She had a friend waiting for her. 

Her first.

​