(A/N: Sooo… here's my newest story, "The Sakura Archives" I really couldn't figure out what to call it and this is as close as I got to something original. This story is a bit dark and focuses on Sakura more than anything. What can I say? She's my favorite Naruto character besides Hinata. By the way I'll start making stories about her too when Kishi decides to show her fight.)

Disclaimer: What do you think?

Title: The Sakura Archives

Prologue: 'The Heck is This?

Peridot eyes looked down at a rather bulky looking rectangle box covered in red gift wrap accented with a pink bow on top. Sure the package looked impressive enough from an outside perspective, but what was inside? A pink eyebrow rose above its usual position showing the owner's skepticism. The Peridot eyes looked at a girl, the same age as her, with blonde hair and deep blue eyes look back at her with anticipation and excitement dancing in them. The one owning those features shifts them into the expression of irritation. Right deep blue eye twitching while the left narrows, button nose scrunches upwards, and lips smothered in purple gloss matching her clothes pouts.

Cute features for a 13 year old girl only to be rivaled by the one across from her who naturally had the color of cherry blossoms for hair, with cherry red lips in a straight composed line, and dazzling bejeweled green eyes staring indifferently at her companion's current demeanor. She herself was wearing a white spring dress turning heads along with her friend as they sat on chairs on the patio of a restaurant. Both were off duty but the one irritated still had her "work clothes" on. "C'mon open it, forehead! I went to the trouble of getting you a birthday present. You should see what I sacrificed my money for!" The blonde exploded, clearly disappointed that her friend wasn't willing to accept a cherished gift from a close friend/rival.

"What is it?" The one dubbed "forehead," ever since the tender age of nine, asked glancing at it then continued to lick the shaved ice she'd ordered earlier. "Tch, if I wanted to tell you I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of wrapping it up. Now stop being a smartass. We both know you are. The girl who had been insulted in less than a minute smirked haughtily and shrugged lifting her hand once again to lap up more of the treat. Her Peridot twinkled with mischief for a couple of seconds watching the one across squirm a little. "My birthday was a month ago Ino-pig-," "I know! I know! So sue me, I had a mission!" the one given the moniker "pig" groaned out taking her parfait into her mouth without a spoon not caring if some of it smeared off that pretty lip gloss.

"Yes you did," the pink haired girl stated nodding knowingly then looked down at the neatly wrapped package from her friend's heart, on her lap. She smiled gently at the peace offering. The past month was a bit turbulent as of late with the two young kunoichi-in-training studying to become medical nin of Konoha. They hadn't spoken to each other since Ino came back from a very long and strenuous C ranked mission. The one receiving the gift had mused that she'd been a bit unfair, even though it was one of the most important days of her life, and felt bad that they were fighting over something so tedious (like birthdays) to jeopardize their friendship. There was always something that made their bond break but just as quickly mend. "But you didn't have to get me a present Ino…I-," the said object was snatched from her lap in a split second before she finished what she had to say.

"Good then I can get my money back for some new shoes I saw yesterday in the store across from the place I got your present." Ino stroked it longingly already plotting what she'd buy then saw that out of the corner of her eye, her friend, deflated in disappointment. Ino smiled and shoved the package back in her face, "Last chance, Sa-ku-ra," she purred mockingly. The one known as Sakura snatched the object and ripped off the paper frantically. Ino laughed and batted her eyelashes beckoning the waiter to come with their check. Sakura pulled out a red leather book embroidered with white velvet forming roses as its design. The spine was an ivory dagger entwined with a golden snake and had something sticking out of its handle with 3 strings attached to them dangling a pearl, orichalum shaped into a lotus, and a bloodstone at each end.

Sakura's eyes glowed over the gorgeous text then looked up at her friend across from her. Ino gave a sheepish smile and asked, "Like it?"

Sandaled boots made their way across the water turning to ice because of the snow to the Water Country where they would find themselves stepping on land soon. They were owned by a teenage ninja of 17 years whose young name has struck fear into the most evil beings in the world of shinobi but had the appearance of a handsome youth, resembling his mother's features, conflicted with who he was supposed to be portrayed as, an S-Class criminal of Konohagakure: the Village Hidden in the Leaves. What was the reason for their fear? The fact that he'd killed his own brother a year ago, who was once a threat to many and had the reputation of a murderer of his own clan, would be reason enough. His name is Uchiha Sasuke who currently has his own assembled team Hebi, way past their expiration date, still following him. The dark spiky haired boy was getting tired of them doing so as he couldn't help but listen to two of them arguing over something stupid once again.

One of them was Karin, the kunoichi of the team, a four-eyed carrot top gifted with an ability to locate and track anyone upon will. She was smart and studious and highly annoying as she clings to Sasuke anytime she can to flirt despite his protests. She heavily reminded him of Haruno Sakura, a kunoichi of his old cell from his native village, who was cuter but had the personality of her 12 year old self mirrored tightly by Karin. The other was a male shinobi named Suigetsu who wields a total of four swords out of eight that belonged to a group he was to join called the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Unlike Karin, he had unusual features for a human being. His teeth looked sharp to the point almost resembling a shark's as he opened his mouth, his hair was white putting any old man to shame and although it was cold enough to freeze a penguin he was wearing a short sleeved shirt and low cut pants as if it was summer and never shivered. He also had the ability to turn to water whenever cut or hit by an enemy making him virtually invincible. Both happened to be experiments of the late Orochimaru, a terror that Sasuke had killed as well.

"Seriously Karin, what are you still doing here with us? Didn't you have somewhere to go in the opposite direction or something? You tagging along is getting annoying…" Suigetsu complains getting a swig of water out his water bottle, walking directly in back of Sasuke. Karin growls glaring in his direction being ignored, "It's none of your business you asshole! Besides why are you still following Sasuke? Don't you have something to do too, like collect those stupid swords for no apparent reason?" Suigetsu snorts and looks back at Karin with a toothy sneer, "Who says I'm following him? At best we might as well be traveling companions, he happened to be going the same way I was to actually get this sword, you even saw me get it, so what's your problem?" He points to his newest blade or twin blades hanging off his belt that he'd gotten a couple of months ago by killing its owner. "Plus the direction I'm going to collect another happens to be where he's going, Karin," he drawled looking at her and challenging her argument. Karin was about to say something else only to be interrupted by Juugo suddenly sneezing.

They both looked back at him as he rubbed his nose going red from irritation. He had caught a cold yesterday and it was showing. "Bless you," Sasuke tells him. They look back at Sasuke in surprise. When it came to manners he really didn't feel obligated to display them to his team so what was unheard of came as a shock. Sasuke actually didn't mind this gentle giant being around. It turns out he was thankful that Juugo, whether on purpose or not, created an interval of quiet (something he hadn't had in a long time) which would probably explain his behavior. In fact he had made a promise to Juugo to become his "cage" when he had freed him from captivity in one of the holding cells that Orochimaru had put him in. He has an uncontrollable split personality, containing the origin of Sasuke's curse seal on the left side of his neck, which thrives on nonstop killing. The current Juugo is afraid of his other self and what he'd do without being held back and has given up on a cure resulting in Sasuke's promise that was made a year and a half ago.

Juugo still unaware of Sasuke's thinking pattern or personality was grateful for Sasuke's remark and thanked him with a nasal accent sniffing. They walked on for a couple of more minutes filled with silence. Sometimes Sasuke missed the solitude that came with the silence, even though it was full of pain, which had come along with it. That solitude was usually guaranteed at Konoha when he wasn't a missing nin in a span of 4 years alone living there. When he had turned thirteen he was finally apart of his first cell, Team 7, filled with his old teammates that broke away the solitude never to mend itself ever again. Still despite his loss he was thankful they did even though he never appeared appreciative for their meddling.

The people that were part of that team still existed and he's seen them a couple of times apart from the instances they'd tried to retrieve him. The last person he saw was the sensei of their team, Hatake Kakashi, a highly skillful jounin of the village Hidden in the Leaves. He was in a one manned mission in the red light district of the Tea Country. Sasuke himself was there because he had just killed his elder brother and was paranoid and numb. Sasuke threw away the sensation of guilt a long time ago but he would be shocked to know that he was feeling something akin to it. He remembered the haunting words of a teammate, the female one that he hadn't seen for a year and was rumored to be missing, before he ran away from home had said, "It won't make you happy nor I." Sasuke ignored the rest of the flashback. It wasn't exactly a painful memory but more of an annoying one… because she was right.

Forcing his mind back into the present his senses rapidly focused on two enormous chakra patterns southeast of their position. He along with the other three in his company looked towards a swirling jade chakra rising up to the sky. At the pinnacle of its ascension it started to spread out into a circle causing the gentle snow falling onto them to turn green. Sasuke narrowed his black diamond eyes towards the stimulus for the strange snow. The whole site looked like a tree. He held out a hand catching the thick snowflakes in his semi-gloved hand and used his blood line limit of his extinguished clan, the Sharingan, to look at the strange adjustment of precipitation. As his eyes examined it more closely with its three tomoe swirling to get a better focused look he saw the green chakra circulate within the crystallized water then stood still in its motion and melted into his hand. As they did so his now red eyes widened in disbelief because the chakra had decided to get itself absorbed into his skin, and warmed his hand considerably. He looked out to the surface of the ice that they had been walking on and saw steam rising out of broken patterns of water and ice. Raising a brow and looked to his teammates that were stunned as well.

Looking towards the source of the miraculous event he called out, "Karin," She snapped her head towards him with a smile but he wasn't looking her way. Pouting she sighed, "Understood," and tried to sense what was going on behind them but something was blocking her ability. Frustrated she glared and focused on the force blocking her out. It was a barrier but had a hole in it as it was impaled earlier by the chakra that was causing the green snow. Seeing the hole as an opening for her to peek into, she delved into the dome.

"Well? What is it?" Suigetsu asked impatient. She narrowed her eyes in annoyance and snapped, "Shut up," then reported what she found, "There are two shinobi engaged in a battle, both are extremely strong and happen to be of Sasuke's caliber. One is a kunoichi and she seems to have the upper hand but I can't identify her properly though she seems familiar, and the other is a blur, there was a barrier to begin with in the first place. To be able to create a barrier solely on water alone is amazing. It's almost impossible because it's not a solid feature to rely on to make a barrier that would stay put."

Sasuke deactivated his eyes and continued towards the shores of the Water Country. It wasn't his business or his nature to look into strange happenings. Besides, he felt as if the chakra pattern was eerily familiar and had no desire to meet up with anything or anybody from the past at this moment lest they try his patience, like the ones behind him. "Eh? Wait up, Sasuke!" he heard Karin call out but he didn't comply and kept walking. Something was tugging at him to run to the disturbance and run away at the same time. He hadn't felt this anxious since his genin days in Konoha. "Odd," he thought but at the end of that thought a huge explosion sounded behind them along with an incredible force of its contents. He found himself being pushed by an intense energy and saw the green chakra force its way around his person gushing towards the shore melting the rest of the ice he was standing on. It blew his hair and clothes in that direction as well and he couldn't help but bend to the chakra's will. Cursing he adjusted the chakra on his feet so he could stand properly and looked behind him.

It seemed as if the battle had ended because as soon as he turned around the ice that was now water became calm and the chakra was evaporating into the air being sucked up by the clouds still spewing green snow. It was as if the battle had never happened at all. He looked at the rest of his team, Suigetsu was struggling to become whole again and muttering a stream of his own curses. Karin was soaked from head to toe and pulled her hair back announcing she had lost her glasses and could barely see with a frown. Juugo… was missing. "Karin where's Juugo?" she looked up in mid-thought to find her glasses and stuttered out, "I-I don't know, my ability is a bit clouded. I… wait, he's under water." Sasuke looked down with his eyes already activated and scanned for Juugo's body. He saw it moving up to the surface and it was moving. Sasuke blinked and sighed, he hadn't cared about anyone's well being for awhile. What was wrong with him?

Juugo burst out of the water gasping and coughing a little and settled down as soon as he got a grip on the water's surface with his chakra. Relying solely on his arms that were holding him up he held up one of them revealing Karin's coke-bottle black rimmed glasses. "I found this while I was down there," he exhaled tiredly. Karin's mouth opened into an "o," before she rushed over to Juugo and helped him out of the water. "Thanks," she mumbled before sticking them on but frowned again when she still wasn't able to see properly. "What the hell was that?!" the three of them stared at Suigestu who was still getting himself together and still irritated. Sasuke shrugged and kept walking surveying the area until something red in the water caught his eye. He walked up to it and knelt down to get a better look at it.

It was a leather book that looked a little worn with an intricate design of flowers covering the entire text. Cocking his head in curiosity he fished it out of the water and stood up. There was a barrier covering it, which would explain why it was currently burning his hand and completely dry despite it floating in the water like a boat. He examined it with his blood red Sharingan that happened to match the book's overall color. The spine was made out of ivory and gold of which looked like a snake entwined with a dagger. There was something sticking out of the dagger's handle which had three strings attached to it. Two of them were occupied by a precious stone and jewel, a pearl and a bloodstone. He was so intrigued by the book's appearance that he didn't notice Suigetsu looking over his shoulder for about a minute.

He sighed, "What is it, Suigetsu?" Suigetsu alarmed that Sasuke had noticed him already backed away from the last Uchiha and said after a moment of awkwardness, "Nothing it's just that you were ignoring me for the longest time, that's all," He looked off to the side not meeting up with his companions eyes, they were still activated and deadly if he got on his bad side. Taking a chance he decided to glance at Sasuke out of the corner of his eye not turning his head only to see the boy continue his walk towards shore where there were some spectators looking out to sea pointing where the explosion took place and the green snow and some looked at the group walking on water as if it was their fault. He ignored them and continued to walk to the shore as if nothing had happened hurriedly being followed by his, supposed, disbanded team Hebi.

Preview: Hee hee- none. Sorry folks this is a prologue. I think prologues shouldn't get previews.

(A/N: Okay… here's what's up. In this dark story the point of views are in 3rd person. They aren't just entrees from Sakura's pen. The story kind of jumps around in three time sequences, one would be random experiences of Sakura that aren't written in her diary in italics, another would mainly be in the present following Sasuke as he reads her diary in normal font, and the last sequence of this story would be the past working it's way up to the present as Sakura writes in her diary in underlined italics.)