This story has been in my mind for quite a while. At least several weeks.

Rated: T

Pairing: SasuSaku as of now.

Summary: Before Sasuke leaves, Sakura is presented with a choice that may change everything. To turn back time. To that point when the snake attacked him...she may twist time so it was not he had the curse mark, but she. SasuSaku.

x.Serendipity.x

(The day before Sasuke left)

Sakura shot ten kunais at her sparring partner. Easily he dodged them, his dark hair glinting in the waning sun.

"Let's stop for now!" panted Naruto in his usual stentorian voice. He stood up, exhausted, a smile bright on his lively features.

"Fine," assented Sakura. She glanced fleetingly at Sasuke - There was only a speck in the far distance. Just like the sun on he horizon, Sakura's heart sank. She wanted to clench her fists ad grit her teeth, but patience overruled her. Ignoring Naruto's offer of eating dinner together she shot off into the darkness. Despite her fatigue earlier she ran her fastest and her hardest.

To the only person she'd ever wanted. From several years before, she'd fallen for Sasuke.

And she'd fallen hard.

Her pouch struck against her hip and snow and wind tore at her cheeks.

Just a little more...

The dark figure reformed into a tall, unsmiling dark-eyed shinobi. He stared coldly at Sakura, who had stopped barely in front of him, chest heaving. Her eyes glimmered faintly in the dark, black night.

"Ano - Sasuke...I thought...we could have dinner t-tonight?" Hopefully she awaited his response, her eager eyes drawn to the shape of his mouth, the edge of his nose, the contemptuous curve of the jaw.

He hardly moved an inch. "No."

Sakura's breath stopped. Why did it hurt so much, so piercingly, every time? A thought surfaced. 'Why even bother?'

Dully she bit her lip. He was so close yet so far...it wasn't worth it, but it was...! This was Sasuke; he'd always been loved, even to his displeasure. Like a bee drawn to honey Sakura wanted him wanted him close, to love her back.

"I said no."

Her head snapped back up. Wordlessly she shifted to the right and let him pass.

A voice close behind her - "Oi, Sakura-chan, do you want to - "

"No, Naruto. Leave me alone." Feeling a surge of sadness, she walked away, blinking back tears.

Xxxxxx

Something, a faint thought, came to her in a dream. She spotted a dark flower hanging like a teardrop in the sky. She made her way with a dreamer's pace, slow and comforting, to get a better look. She was curious.

It was, in fact, a black cherry blossom.

Puzzled, Sakra reached out to touch it;

Xxxxxx

She was jolted, electrified. She screamed and screamed, and screamed but couldn't feel anything. Time stopped and swirled around her. The world tilted in a ninety degree angle and shards of pain were inflicted into her mind.

M-make is stop-p-

Finally. she gave up, hanging suspended into the air numbly. Her body twitched violently of its own accord. She couldn't feel a thing.

"Open your eyes."

Sakura didn't move.

"Open your eyes!" She tried but she couldn't.

"Agh-ugh - " Cold water was splashed across her face. She jumped up immediately. "W-where am I?!" She winced and cried aloud at the injuries. When she peered down it appeared she was adorned in simple black fabric.

There were no wounds, no incisions, no cuts.

Then how...?

She found herself in a dark, shabby room with peeling walls and spider webs. There was no window or door...the light came from a lanterm that a woman was holding. Layers of old skin hung from her eyes. She had no teeth, and a few wisps of hair sprouted from a weathered scalp.

But her eyes were as bright as those of a newborn's.

Her voice was cracked with age but overflowing, strangely, with vitailty. "I need to tell you."

"Wh-what?" Sakura found it difficult to speak. Fear knotted in her chest. "W-where am I? W - "

"Sasuke..."

At the sound of his name Sakura fell silent, heart drumming like a trapped bird in a cage.

"...That is his name, no...?"

"H-hai." Sakura was immensely curious. Only when she fet a burning pain did she realize she'd clenched her fists so tightly that blood had seeped out.

"He is leaving today."

"Ngh - Sa - "

"Hush," the woman intoned, her eyes burning brightly. Sakura drew back, frightened. "He is leaving today," she repeated. "The cursemark - "

"NO!" burst out the kunoichi and she stood up. A spear of pure pain caused her to crumple to the ground, and she shuddered. "The curse mark - how do y-you know?" Her teeth clenched down on her lip. She needed to know, desired the truth.

"We have no time. He is leaving today in the early morning."

"I - " Sakura forced herself calm, forced her jaw to unclench. She shivered. "P-please, then..how do y-you know?"

"We have no time," the woman repeated. Her eyes closed for a fraction of a second. "Do you wish to stop him?"

"But - I - of course I want to stop him!"

"You cannot."

"W-what?" Sakura's head swam and she felt giddy. What was reality and where did it end? How was this possible? Was she dead?

"You will try but he will knock you unconscious."

"...I - Sasuke - "

"You cannot stop him."

"...Ss..." Her lips parted. Her shoulders racked with coughs. Several seconds passed with that horrible sound. Finally she lifted her head tiredly, eyes swimming with tears. "T-tell me how I...w-why are you - "

"Do you want to help him?"

Fury sprouted; Sakura yelled, "Of course I do!" The tears were now let loose in a perpetual motion around her. She was confused but spoke with her best interests. "I - I...love...him."

"Are you sure?"

She didn't know why she was crying, didn't know why she felt so afraid, so deathly horrified. "I - I'll help him. I'll stop him - I'l do anything! I'll do anything!"

"Anything...?" Sardonically the crone's toothless mouth twisted into a smile. "Anything?"

"Y-yes!"

"Can you turn back time? You cannot stop him. You can only attempt to try." There was something disparaging in that withered old tone.

"I - of course!" This isn't real, she desperately thought. If this is a dream it's terribly twisted. I'll just... She blurted out, "W-why are you doing this Why are you telling me this?" To her horror the room was twisting, fading into a windswept circle.

The old woman had already disappeared. Her voice echoed in the darkness, "Then so be it..."

And then...nothing.

Please please review. I have the second chapter clearly thought out. If you're curious...tell me!