July 28, 2004

2 years, 3 months, 26 days prior to Incident

Sometimes, when Sakura slept, she dreamt of the revolution she had once been part of.

They were the heroes and the villains and the martyrs. They were the spearheads of their generation, trailing after the steps of their predecessors to suffer their blows and cause suffering in turn. They were blessed and cursed, dancing to the whims of destiny but able to overcome through tears and blood and fists with cracked open knuckles. They were a generation borne from the fervent remnant of war, given not quite enough time to grow comfortable in the growth of their own bodies before being thrust back into another dawning on the horizon, the apocalyptic clash between the world and a man who had fancied himself a god and then a god who was corrupted by power worse than any man had known.

She had once been a supernova, burning brightly with the splendour of mercy and justice and an impossible reserve of strength, of power begotten from an indefatigable resolution. She had once been a weak little girl who cried at betrayal and abandonment and the scalding acid of self-loathing. She had once been the anchor in a team where all the rest had been held to the earth only by tenuous, vaporous bonds to ghosts long gone from it.

She had once…

She could not - she could not -

Sakura bent over the fallen man, whose silky brown hair pooled around his head like a halo. Like a blessing, like benediction. Like a prophecy of failure.

She would not -

They would all go home together. All of Naruto's precious people. All of them, everyone. No one was allowed to slip through her fingers, and Hyuuga Neji would be no different, huge gaping hole be damned.

"It's too late," he had rasped. "It's too late."

"Like fuck it's too late," she snarled, unceremoniously wrenching Naruto away from his limp body. "That's for me to decide - you just make sure you don't give up before I'm done."

He had chuckled faintly, hopelessness casting a dim undertone to every breath. "Do... your worst."

So she had. As battle waged around them, Sakura pumped him full of chakra until he was glowing with it, until leaking veins thrummed more with hers than his.

She could not -

And yet he was edging so close to the precipice it was a miracle he wasn't falling over. She knit torn flesh, tendons, muscles, knit together veins and arteries and the smallest of capillaries, poured forth into his body life-blood and an ocean's flow of her own spirit, resuscitated him again, and again, and again. But he would not be fixed, he could not be fixed -

it wasn't enough it was never enough no no no she couldn't do this it was impossible

She would not -

… No.

No. Failure was not permitted.

She could. She would.

And like that, something clicked into place, a thread was pulled, the cosmic order shifted, something, something changed.

Even as it faded away, Hyuuga Neji's life pulsed back into existence.

And Haruno Sakura's became brittle to celestial touch.

Sakura stood in the bakery aisle, musing on the advantages of rye bread versus normal wheat bread. While 100% rye was nutritionally preferable, she couldn't deny that the fluffy texture of white bread was considerably more appealing. As she deliberated over which loaf to choose, the back of her mind registered footsteps and a familiar chakra signature approaching her.

"Oh, Sakura. I don't usually see you during the summer."

"Light-kun! You have great timing." She shoved the two loaves of bread in his face. "Which one should I buy?"

It was a testament to their longstanding friendship and mutual rapport that Light didn't even blink at the abrupt question. He carefully leaned back and assessed the two options. "The rye."

"Alright." She dropped it in her basket and continued shuffling along. "Why are you here, anyway? I thought your mother did all the housework."

Light winced at the almost-accusation. "Mom's taking Sayu to the dentist's, so she asked me to go instead."

"Hmm… is that so…" she replied, staring at a row of muffins. "Hey, Light - "

"The apple cinnamon."

"Not the blueberry?"

"You get the blueberry too often. Your siblings are probably tired of it by now."

"Fair enough... but you know, I think I'll get the double chocolate this time."

The brunet made a face. "How do you even stand that much sugar? I feel like I'm getting diabetes just from looking at it."

That's how I feel every time those idiots come over, she thought dryly. She kept her mouth shut though, not wanting to expose poor Light to that kind of chaos. In this case, ignorance was really bliss, and if she told him that she was visited by three foreign boys every summer, he'd definitely insist on meeting them out of some misplaced desire to protect her, or whatever.

She'd really rather limit Beatus's exposure to the rest of her life, particularly in respect to the parts that he could murder, maim, or otherwise injure.

"Once in a while should be fine." She dropped the container into her cart and began to wheel her way to the produce section. "Anyway, what did you need help with?"

He blinked at her. "How do you know I needed help? I could've just been saying hi. We haven't seen each other for a while, you know."

"You have that look on your face that says you need help but are too embarrassed to ask anyone else."

"I have that kind of expression?" the brunet asked, looking rather incredulous.

"Most definitely," was the prompt reply. "Like that time you had a project with that girl and you had to pretend you knew her name for a week until I finally took pity on you. Or when someone hid panties in your desk and you had everyone convinced that it didn't faze you, even though I was the one who tossed it out in the end."

Light groaned at the mention of 'The Panty Incident'. "We agreed to never discuss that."

"Yeah, can't let everyone find out what a shy lamb Yagami Light is," Sakura teased. He nudged her playfully and shushed her. "So what did you need?"

"Well," the boy began. He opened his mouth to speak before thinking better of it and pulling out a scrap of paper. "I have everything else, but it's... this... that's giving me a headache."

Sakura peered curiously at the list, her eyes scrolling down the various groceries until they reached the item Light was jabbing a long finger at. Pads, it said in neat, curly lettering. In brackets the author - Light's mother, without a doubt - added, For period. It was probably for Light's benefit, since Sachiko-san, and perhaps even Sayu, wouldn't require such clarification.

She struggled furiously to contain the bubbling laughter in her throat, but the dancing mirth in her eyes gave her away. At Light's responding look of betrayal, a single giggle escaped the confines of her lips before she could clamp a hand over it. And another. And several more.

Sakura dismissed restraint as a lost cause and instead erupted into loud, rambunctious laughter.

"There are just too many types," Light insisted. "It's confusing!"

"H-have you tried... tried calling your - pff - mum?" Sakura managed to choke out over her chortles.

Quite grimly, Light responded, "She's not picking up her phone."

The two of them stood in the bakery aisle for a few more minutes until Sakura could reign in her giggles, Light patiently trying to pretend his closest friend wasn't delighting over his plight.

"Well." The rosette finally straightened up and clapped her hands. "Let's get started on that, shall we?"

Sakura took the embarrassed teen to the feminine hygiene aisle and walked Light through the different brands ("I'm pretty sure your mum uses Eternity, since that brand has the softest weave," she'd told him. He'd responded with a look of extreme incomprehension), the various sizes ("Regular and Overnight. If she was desperate enough to send you, you're probably all out at home, and these are the staples."), wings versus no wings ("Wings. Always wings." She didn't bother explaining her reasoning for this.), and thickness ("No, it's not going to leak through! The ultra-thin isn't actually ultra-thin, it's just an advertising label - you know what, never mind. Just grab it.")

In the end, she ended up taking the packages through the checkout counter for him too, out of pity for his overly red ears.

Sakura left the supermarket after exchanging farewells with Light and receiving a promise of free food later. Her arms were laden with her own groceries, but she managed to peer over them well enough to maneuver through the park she always used as a shortcut. Her only regret for the day was that no one else was there to witness Light's prideful floundering. But then again, there was something to be said for being the only one privy to this side of the so-called 'perfect' boy.

Sakura inhaled deeply as she entered the park. The tangy-sweet scent of flowers and the perfume of pine and cedar attempted to cloak the pollution that was so pervasive across the entirety of Tokyo, but it scratched an ashen path down her throat with every breath. Still, it was much better here than in the loud traffic jams of the major roads, and so, so much better than back then. When she had first woken, it had felt like choking, like drowning, her mind so convinced that she was suffocating in the strange airborne contamination, even as her suddenly smaller lungs continued to pull in oxygen without effort.

Well, that was all in the past now. She had woken that day with the singular knowledge that return was impossible; nothing for it, then, but to move forward. Not, of course, that her reaction had been quite this calm at the outset, but time had worn the once harsh edges of loss soft, and now she had siblings, friends, people to love, precious ones to live for.

Should have, would have, could have... It was an exercise in futility, trying to quantify the aeonian May-Have-Beens and Never-Weres. Dwelling on it too long - years and decades in solitude, festering anger, plotting, plotting, plotting - was enough to drive any mortal man mad, as she had been witness to. She wanted to focus on the Is and Is-Nots, the Cans and Will-Bes, and especially the From-This-Moment-Forths.

And from this moment forth, Sakura decided, she would love freely and laugh easily, immerse herself in everything this life had to offer her; for it was the only one she had now, and what use was there in mourning something long gone?

Fuyuno Sakura - age 14, 1st year high school

Yagami Light - age 15, 1st year high school

AN

Because lots of you asked if Light knows about the Whammy boys. Clearly, he hasn't a single clue, as Sakura has neatly divided that part of her life from the rest, carefully censoring contact between the two. I don't suppose you remember, but the Whammy boys did kind of forcefully inject themselves into her life. That's not to say she isn't fond of them, just that she knows letting them loose on her school friends may be a bad bad bad idea.

Actually, everything from 'Sakura stood in the bakery' up to 'time wore the loss soft' was written a long time ago, perhaps over a year and a half. But then I tried to incorporate a Ciel and/or Minato cameo, as I've promised Pinkpetal34 but I just... couldn't. They didn't want to be forced in. So I just threw my hands up and gave up on that, and then forgot about FnS for a while. It's been a long time, and I'm not sure where I want to go with this anymore, but a fresh perspective and far improved ability should be good for something. I can see a lot of stuff that needs improving, not just in the wordsmithing (choppy transition, limited character development, lackluster dialogue) but also in relation to plot holes, contrived leaps in logic, and dangling threads. My current skill still needs a lot of improving, of course, but there's never a real end to self-improvement. I would like to re-edit and fix up the previous chapters, but tbh I feel like that would take ages, so we'll see.

and yes, i previously said that there would be no flashbacks, and that everything before the switch followed canon, but the scene just... attacked me. sakura needs resolution, it insisted. her story needs better integration, it demanded. so i was forced to write it? and the pads thing… i wanted to write flustered light, and sakura was already in the supermarket, so. haha?

anyway, i'll just… leave this heredontkillme :)

P.S. - as always, I extend the offer of suggestions towards what kind of things or scenes you would like to see, especially now that I'm unsure of how to progress all over again