*The Bridge Between Time*

Disclaimer:

I don't own Naruto

CHAPTER ONE

A Lapse in Time

These days were significantly stressful for a certain pink haired young lady. Her name was Sakura Haruno and she was known as quite the heroine in her time. She had been admired since her early childhood for her beauty and for her intelligence. Becoming a medical expert by the time she was eighteen and founding her very own hospital and medical research facility were only a couple things she was famous for. She was thought of as a strong woman who many people looked up to, but she didn't feel that way.

Now at twenty three, Sakura had been married for a year to a man who was as genius as she; that man's name was Neji Hyuga. He was known for his strength, his brains and his outstanding leadership skills. He was relatively quiet until meeting Sakura and her overbearing attitude. When Neji had moved to the big city of Tokyo to join her staff, he was the first person who ever had enough of her to put her in her place and something about how different he was attracted her to him and before long, they had begun to love one another and decided to make things official.

Neji was a good man, he was a good husband to Sakura, but lately she felt herself weighing down with more and more pressure. The two of them barely even had time to tell each other goodnight before they slept at night, the only time they were around each other. Sakura had been running the hospital herself for months and Neji was leading a research team who had been inspecting some ruins in the outskirts of the city.

Everyday they seemed to be more and more busy so that they never had time with each other and Sakura had become quite lonely over the last several weeks. The exhaustion she was dealing with wasn't even something she wanted to think about. It had her to the point that she wasn't even going home at night, she would be locked in her office, taking on mountains of paperwork until she would just pass out there and Neji had even become accustomed to her doing so.

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It was on a cold winter night that they both had decided that no matter what, they would spend an entire night together, enjoying each other as husband and wife. They both were home by seven thirty that evening, tired but happy to take this time for each other.

They ordered takeout and ate silently, just enjoying each others company. They bathed together afterwards and made love until early morning. Neither of them knew why but that night, they held each other extra close because although neither of them spoke their thoughts aloud, they both had a terrible feeling that they may never see each other again.

"What are you trying to say, Neji-kun?" Sakura asked cautiously. It was the next day and they had woken up extra early so they could have breakfast together before leaving to go into work but the atmosphere in the kitchen as they stared each other down was intensifying by the second.

"We aren't sure what to think yet but I would really like to bring you in on this project. We haven't discovered any new information in weeks now and I know you will be a huge asset to our team."

The already strenuous weight on Sakura's shoulders seemed to double and she just pursed her lips at Neji, unsure what she should say. In all honesty, she didn't have the time to join his research team because of all she already had to do. She was at the hospital more than she was home and she knew there was no way she could take on more work being as stressed as she already was.

"The hospital needs me." She told him finally, it was true but that didn't seem to be a problem with Neji.

"There are other doctors who can fill in for you, Sakura. You know how vital this research is." Neji's pale pearl colored eyes showed nothing but seriousness as they bored into hers.

The real truth was, Sakura didn't have such a great experience the last time she was doing research and therefore she had stayed away from that field gladly, letting Neji handle it. She had never thought he would try to bring her back into it now. She didn't feel as strong as everyone made her out to be, but she had never been one to give up or give in so she did what she did anytime somebody asked her for something. She agreed.

"Okay, when will you need me?"

"Today."

Sakura's eyes widened when Neji answered without hesitation. It was true that she hadn't expected him to ask her at all, but to ask for her and want her back in the field, on such short notice. She knew Neji really must have been under a lot of pressure lately, possibly even more than her.

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It was freezing cold outside and it had been snowing on and off for days. The ruins Neji and his five team members had brought Sakura to seemed beautiful in its own way with the bright white snow covering everything in sight, only hindering their research further.

Neji had found chemical like particles in the surrounding of the ruins and over the past several weeks he and his teams had run countless tests only to come out empty handed. Even as Sakura examined the ruins herself, she couldn't understand what could be causing a chemical reaction. There was nothing but the rubble of which was considered the ancient historical ruins of what was once one of the grandest kingdoms in history.

But it was just that, ancient. There was nothing remotely close to technology in the area. Nothing but dirt and stone. No metallic substances or anything. As they searched they came to find that there was no trace of a chemical element there at the time. How could it just come and go that way?

They had been at it all day, countless tests had been run, some that Sakura had in special solutions would take a few more days before the results would be accurate but Sakura just didn't see them coming up with anything. There was nothing there and she couldn't help feeling that Neji was worrying over nothing. It bothered her deeply though at how worried he was. He claimed he had reason to believe there was a life-threatening virus forming in those very ruins.

"Any luck?" Neji had come to Sakura's side and asked, already knowing and disappointed.

Sakura met his eyes for a brief moment before looking away sadly. She hated to disappoint anyone, especially Neji. "Don't worry, I'm just getting started."

Neji frowned, causing his brows to pull together as he watched her walk off into the tallest standings of the ruins, in the very center. She disappeared from his view and he turned away to get back to collecting samples to test. Sakura always did like her space and he respected her enough to give it to her. Especially when it came to work.

If she had been asked to explain it she wouldn't have been able to but there was something about the area she entered that made her feel secure. She had a strange sense of peace wash over her as she looked around what must have once been a room inside the castle that once stood in place of the ruins. The four stone walls surrounding her were only as tall as she was and only portions of them remained.

Sakura couldn't help but notice how much the temperature dropped so suddenly and she wrapped her arms around herself to shield herself from a strong, icy gust of wind. A blinding blue light startled Sakura and she stumbled back a few steps, shielding her eyes with her hands. She felt herself falling and her hands went out reflexively to catch herself but instead of hitting the hard ground, she watched with wide, petrified eyes as the same blue light that nearly blinded her seemed to begin to pull her into it.

"W-what... What is this?" Sakura, stunned as she was, couldn't even think, much less move as the gravitational pull of the light grew stronger and stronger.

Sakura screamed in her mind but it didn't reach her voice and without Neji or anyone else realizing it, the blue light opened wide like a portal and swallowed Sakura up quickly. Then it disappeared as if it had never been there before.

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Sasuke Uchiha was not a man of words. He had no tolerance for people and that was why he was content staying locked away, all by himself as he had been for the past several years. He couldn't remember the last time he laid eyes on another breathing being, but he wished it that way being the loner he was.

It wasn't like he had ever wanted to have an entire kingdom to worry about and so he felt it unnecessary to worry about it at all. It took him a long time but he was able to scare off everyone eventually and he was free from everyone but himself. His life was completely meaningless, he was just living to die and he knew it but he was happier with that conclusion than living surrounded by a bunch of strangers who pretended to adore him everyday for the rest of his life.

He had gotten himself used to nothing, just sitting around while he drank his favorite dry brandy not even bothering to light a candle. He liked the darkness, they had so much in common. The emptiness in the darkness was the only thing other than alcohol that seemed to keep him at peace anymore.

It had begun to storm outside, lightning struck nearby, sending a flash of light through his study. He stood, deciding he'd better make sure all the windows were closed properly. The entire castle was in darkness aside from the lightning that came every minute or so. A thunderstorm was the least of his worries but he wasn't naive enough to think it couldn't turn worse quickly. He seemed to be facing one natural disaster after the next these days and he had grown tired of it long ago, but there was nothing he could do and he had brought it on himself.

The Uchiha didn't know why because it was something he never did but as he walked through checking the windows, he stopped at the large front door and pulled it open to gaze out into the storm. Another flash of lightning lit up the outside world and Sasuke's brows shot up in curiosity when what looked like a veil of pink caught his eyes. Pink. He wasn't even sure if he had even seen anything so pink in his life. His eyes weren't deceiving him and without a second thought his legs led him over to where the pool of pink was.

Sasuke gasped as he took in the soaking wet and pale white girl with the long, strewn pink hair. He knew he was the only person within a one hundred mile radius of the kingdom so he had no idea where the girl could have come from or who she was but she looked so frail, and helpless. Sasuke scooped the girl that was barely clinging to life up into his arms. There was no telling how long she had been out there and she was relatively thin. For the first time in his life, the coldhearted, dark prince felt pity for someone.

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"Mnph!" Upon awaking, Sakura's head throbbed in pain and she clutched it in her hands willing it to ease off.

"You're awake?"

Sakura gasped with a start, turning to face the voice she couldn't recognize but it was so dark in the room that she couldn't make him out. Who was he and where was she at and why did her head hurt so badly? So many things seemed fuzzy to her suddenly, she inhaled sharply as she realized that she didn't even know who she herself was. She didn't know anything and she was afraid.

"Hey, you're safe here." Sasuke stepped closer so that she could finally take in his features. He was beautiful, from his flawlessly pale skin, to his long and messy raven hair and his obsidian eyes told a story of their own.

With a soft sigh, Sakura seemed to relax though only a fraction. She felt certain that he spoke the truth, she was safe and that's all that mattered. She could always figure out who and where she was with time. She wondered just who the mysterious man was and if she knew him someway. She felt like she knew him but at the same time she didn't know anything so she wasn't sure what to think.

"You've been unconscious for some time now, three days since I found you. Do you remember how you got here?"

Sakura didn't understand the confused feeling she got as she thought hard, but the thing that confused her so much was that this man seemed so familiar to her and he had only just found her. If she had never met him before why did she have this strange feeling of deja vu as she gazed into his dark, captivating eyes.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked shyly and Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise before he looked away from her with hooded eyes.

"Sasuke Uchiha." He answered flatly. Sasuke found it hard to believe that it had been so long that people wouldn't even remember him if they made it this far into his kingdom.

The name was familiar. Sakura scratched her head pensively before gasping in realization. "Oh wow, you were named after Lord Uchiha himself?" She exclaimed, dumbfounded. She couldn't believe she could remember the name of a king and yet not the name of herself.

Sasuke scowled at the pink haired girl, who gaped at him with wide, breathtaking emerald eyes. Those sweet, innocent eyes of hers was all that kept him from unsheathing his katana and giving her a little taste of 'Lord Uchiha himself'.

"Don't be foolish. If there were an imbecile fearless enough to try and carry my name I would know and I would take pleasure in making him regret it."

Sakura blinked at the seemingly dark man with the even darker aura surrounding him. What did he mean? Nothing he said made sense. Surely he wasn't claiming to be the Sasuke Uchiha. It was laughable. So laughable, that Sakura really did laugh and Sasuke couldn't tell rather he liked the sound or despised it.

"I don't think it wise of you to laugh at the man who saved your life." His humorless tone left Sakura feeling quite intimidated and she looked away from him.

"Forgive me... But you shouldn't make up such things. Claiming to be Sasuke Uchiha." Sakura didn't care if she had her memory or not, she wouldn't be having any man lying to her no matter if he saved her life or not. She turned her nose up at him to prove it.

"I beg your pardon?" Sasuke was flabbergasted. He gawked at the strange girl, unsure how to react without going too far.

"Sasuke Uchiha was a King, not some emo pretty boy."

One long legged step and Sasuke grabbed a handful of her thick luscious pink locks and tugged tightly, forced her head back as he leaned in to glare at her, their eyes only inches apart.

"I don't know what you meant by 'emo pretty boy' but I did not like it. If you were under the impression that I was deceased, you're in for a rude awakening because I am very much alive and as for being a king... It may be unfortunate but it is true and you will do well to remember it."

Sakura watched Sasuke warily as he turned sharply and stormed over to the door leading out of the dark room he had prepared for her. She wanted to stop him from leaving, she was so confused and had so many questions but he was obviously not in his right mind and he seemed relatively angry so she thought better of it. He paused just before opening the door and glanced back over his shoulder to look at the strange girl once more.

"I'll bring you a meal once I've calmed down." With those words he opened the door and left, slamming the door behind himself.

Sakura swallowed hard, willing the lump in her throat to recede. Her head was spinning with confusion and she just wished things would seem clear and understandable. She really hoped she would be okay with the mysterious man who seemed to really believe he was a king from a feudal era. She held her aching head, laying back in the comfort of the bed she was in. She didn't want to even think about anything anymore, at least if she slept she wouldn't be worrying about anything at all. So, she closed her eyes and hummed softly to herself to ease her mind until she finally drifted off into a dream-filled sleep and escaped her confusing reality.

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A/N:

My first completed multi. Oh, what joy.

Going to be doing some reading over and slight editing because I believe this story deserves it.

As always, thanks for reading!