Chasing the Aurora : Colorless

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There will be a time when love will blow your mind

and everything you look for, you'll find.

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Endeavor was a pro-hero who had almost always gotten everything he had wanted. Still, the one thing he was constantly being denied was Japan's Number One hero spot. So after spending years trying to one-up the famous All Might, he decided that if he would never win the number one spot then one of his children will. At least, that's what he had believed so furiously in.

He was completely convinced it would work out perfectly when he was able to bribe a woman with an ice quirk's family with money, success in their business, and fame. Never once did he take in to care about her feelings. It was always, always, always going to be about getting to the top.

After his fourth child, he knew his future continued to look bleak and needed at least one child to contain both quirks easily. So the news of his wife being pregnant for the fourth time was surely going to be the one. Or… ones, now knowing that she was carrying twins. The pregnancy was easy for him, leaving a maid to take care of his wife and having the children care for her.

Eight months later, Todoroki Rei gave birth to twin babies, one boy, and one girl. His son easily was going to inherit both quirks due to his hair color and eye color drawing to different sides of his body— the perfect experimental success. His daughter had pink hair and brown eyes like her mother— utterly useless. He left immediately afterward, proud of one child and disgusted by the other.

Rei, on the other hand, smiled down at her two perfect babies, she knew that she would easily lose her son, Shoto, to their father's training but her daughter had eyes just like hers and hair the most beautiful shade of pink. It was almost odd how Sakura had pink hair when all her other children had both their parents' distinct hair color in parts. Fuyumi, her eldest daughter, is the greatest example with white hair with red flecks.

Maybe Sakura would be the one to be her little light in the darkness. She looked nothing like her father with pink hair and her own brown eyes. Sakura was different and beautiful and Rei decided that she would need to protect these two more than her other children because Shoto would likely be trained the hardest and Sakura would likely be the weakest of them all. But she wouldn't dare let their father harm either one of the innocent twins. She couldn't let them down like she let her other three children down.

— — — — — — —

If I could, I would give you the world

but all I can do is just offer you my love.

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When Sakura was learning how to walk, at 9 months, she tripped and hit her head harshly against some gravel in the backyard. It landed her a trip to the emergency room, a crying twin who wouldn't let go of her hand, and a fretting mother concerned about her child and how her husband would react to such news. The oddest part seemed to be that Sakura was calm through it all, like her eyes had glazed over permanently and she was numb to everything. Though, throughout the whole ordeal, while Sakura never cried, she only hugged her twin tightly and gave her mother a small unsure smile, glassy eyes and all.

Todoroki Sakura ended up needing two stitches in the center of her forehead and went home with an ice pack and baby painkillers given under direct doctor order. Shoto had calmed down on the ride home and Rei had been relieved that nothing else went wrong as Sakura had snapped out of her odd attitude by the time her stitches were being finished. Sakura and Shoto held hands the entire ride home and didn't seem to want to let go anytime after getting out of the car, so Rei laid them down in Sakura's large-enough-for-two crib while she fell asleep in the rocking chair on the right-hand side of the sleeping babies.

To everyone's surprise the next morning, Sakura was completely healed and only the stitches themselves were left as proof of the injury. Rei wondered if her pink-haired baby had somehow inherited a completely different quirk that hadn't been passed down in her family for generations. Her great-great-grandfather had a quirk that allowed him to heal quickly but it had never been passed on… until now, it seemed.

Although, she wouldn't be testing that theory any time soon. Or her husband, if she managed to hide it from him. He wasn't due back for another week as he was out on tour as Japan's Number Two Hero.

Alternatively, Uchiha Sakura woke up as a nine-month-old baby in the middle of a hospital emergency department with a massive headache and made an instant promise to protect her twin and mother from any harm that may come their way. And if that meant kicking her chichiue's ass when she grew old enough, then hell to the fuck yeah.

— — — — — — —

This will be the day that you hear me say

that I will never run away,

that I'm here for you.

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Todoroki Enji was not a good father or husband but Sakura knew he was a good hero. It was what made her resent and respect him at the same time. He trained her twin, Shoto harder than he did her, even though they both showed signs of having dual quirks (honestly, hers was just chakra— although her hair did turn into flames when she got angry and could freeze the floor over with a child-like stomp). Sexist, was one word to call it, another would be cruel. So Sakura did everything in her power to take away any punishment that could've been aimed at her younger twin. If he had then do push-ups then she would force herself to do more, if he had them spar against each other, then she would let Shoto beat her.

And everything seemed to be going well until Enji started slacking on her harsh training and pushing Shoto more than he could handle. And when her mother protested after a particularly intense training which caused Shoto to become sick, five-year-old Sakura saw her father advancing on her mother, hand raised for yet another strike, and saw red. She flicked her fingers into a form of chakra strings and threw him across the room where she ran to stand in front of her wary mother, fists up and ready to charge.

Shoto would later reflect on the moment and confess that he felt chills when she screamed, "don't you dare touch my okaa-san!" Her small face must have been absolutely vicious because her father stared at her wide-eyed while her mother trembled behind her protection. But she knew that was the tipping point for her chichiue. He was slightly more gentle with Shoto's training and much more gentle with their mother whenever she was around.

And when he was away at work on days like today and their mother was having her family over for a rare visit, Sakura trained herself and Shoto with her versions of water clones made by a careful mix of chakra and a dash of her ice quirk. "Ne, otouto," Sakura turned and offered a cold bottle of water to her twin when they finally took a break.

"Ah?" Shoto answered between greedy gulps of the freezing water.

"No matter what happens, know that I'm here for you, okay?" Sakura narrowed her eyes at a bug coming through the open window. It gave off an odd feeling even though it only looked like a housefly.

"Aneue?" Shoto turned to his older twin with eyes full of worry.

Sakura looked away from the window and looked her twin straight in the eyes again, "Chichiue, may not be a good father to us or husband to mom but just know that I'll protect you no matter what."

Contrasting colored eyebrows knit in worry, "is something going to happen, aneue?" His nerves were getting the best of him now. Sakura was always so full of confidence and smiles in such a depressing household but seeing her be serious left him feeling as if the world had tilted.

Sakura smiled softly and shook her head, "just a feeling." Sakura explained moods such as these as having a sixth sense. A not-quite quirk but an odd foreboding feeling that she would become aware of whenever the wind blew a certain way or whenever a body of water whispered murmurs to her. Sakura turned her body to face his and tapped his forehead with two fingers. "I love you, otouto, never forget that."

That was more a part of her old life that she equally wanted to relive and forget. Sasuke wasn't an ideal husband or father to her or Sarada but he tried his best. It's what made her defend her new mother, Rei, with a fury that she had only felt towards Kaguya-hime once upon a lifetime ago. She saw so much of her older self in her okaa-san that it hurt whenever she would bend over backward to not anger chichiue. Haruno Sakura would never take shit like that facing down… but in a way, Uchiha Sakura did and everything about it made her feel sick.

But no more would Todoroki Sakura accept that for her mother or for herself. She would stand strong when none of her family would towards their chichiue. She would light the match that set the world on fire if that's what her mother wished. She would always die for her precious people, just like how she died in her previous life. Just like how she protected and died for Sarada and Konoha against another stupid Kaguya and an Orochimaru-wannabe. Just like she knew she would die the same way in this world.

"Are you ready?" Sakura placed the now empty bottle on the floor and held her hand out towards her twin with a smile.

He smiled softly with one hand covering the spot she tapped previously and took his sister's helping hand to stand up and ready for their next bout of training.

— — — — — — —

That will be the time everything will shine so bright

it makes you color blind.

— — — — — — —

Things were different in this world. But Sakura could work with 'different.' Sakura could use 'different' to her advantage. Chakra didn't naturally occur in this world so she had to build up the coils exactly like a civilian kid trying to be a ninja (sound familiar?) and pray that it would be enough to get her through life being decently talented like in her old life. And if she meditated a lot while her otouto practiced katas she could do in her sleep, who could blame her?

Todoroki Shoto was going to be one hell of a powerhouse just like her boys were last time. Sakura would never want to hold her twin back in anything, which meant training separately as well. He always worried about her or their mother being collateral damage and having them being taken away from him, leaving a gentle Shoto with his easily irritated chichiue. When he confessed this fear to Sakura she hugged him so fiercely that he would never fear such a thing again (although he still had nightmares of them being too far away to save him from an unknown evil).

Even with Shoto's uncertainty, Sakura and Rei stood by him every chance they got. Rei hugged him and loved him as much as a mother could, his three eldest siblings whispered sentiments of 'good luck' and 'I believe in you' when he was on his way to training with their father, and Sakura stood guard and stayed attentive in case any other "accidents while training" could happen with the hero and his harsh punishments.

And after another session consisting of laps around the large backyard, push-ups, sit-ups, quirk training, and mock battle, the twin six-year-olds shared smiles and relaxed by the koi pond on the far end of their property.

"Ne, aneue?" Shoto began up after a round of giggles over Sakura's extremely frizzy and tangled hair being caked in mud.

"Mm?" Sakura answered with a smile still on her face. Her eyes weren't on him and they searched the wooded area that surrounded their home for the disturbance in the air.

Shoto didn't mind, his twin sister got into weird moods occasionally, like how his oldest sister got cranky a couple of days per month, or how Touya-aniki would lock himself in his room and only come out when no one else was awake. He never knew what exactly she always seemed to be searching for, though. "Do you believe in fate?"

"Fate?" Two brown eyes turned to meet his mismatched pair dead on. Sakura scrunched her nose in thought, she stopped believing in things like that after Naruto's speech during the chunin exams directed at a pissy Hyuuga. She shook her head slightly, her brother better not be a fate-believing, pre-chunin Hyuuga Neji 2.0, "I don't think so. I think we all make our own destiny. I wouldn't want some predetermined fate to hold me back and I want to pave my own way."

Shoto nodded dejectedly, "I see." His small voice could have easily been blown away by the wind but Sakura heard it anyway. She always did.

"Just because I don't believe in something doesn't mean you shouldn't, dummy," Sakura knocked her shoulder against his playfully. "We do not always have to agree on everything," she accentuated the last word because she knew that he could be just as sensitive as Haruno Sakura was at times. It was a habit she constantly tried to beat out of him (it usually led to a spar because then she could freely shout encouraging words at him without seeming crazier than a 40-year-old shoved inside a child-sized body).

"I know that…" he trailed off. Was it so wrong just to want them always to agree on things? Sakura could be just as stubborn as their chichiue but in all the right ways. "I just like it when we agree on things," he decided to finish.

Sakura smiled softly and poked his forehead just as she would her most precious one, a whole lifetime ago. "We don't have to always be the same. It's good to be different."

But Shoto didn't want to be different than his twin. He wanted her confidence, her gentleness when dealing with delicate situations, her drive to become a better hero other than just trying to live another day in this household, her infinite wisdom when it came to difficult situations… he wanted to be just like her. Why was it so wrong to want that? Why couldn't she just let him have this?

"Shoto," nudged him out of his thoughts by gently pulling at his growing hair. She smiled at him encouragingly.

He both loved and hated it when she called him that. It always meant that she was going to say something serious and that he'd better suck it up even if he liked it or not because it was what she thought was best for him. "Yeah?" His eyes were cast downwards and he bit his lip in worry. What if she was going to ask him to stop trying to be like her?

"I like it when we're the same too. But I don't want us to be in each other's shadows— always trying to catch up to each other, trying to one-up each other, always fighting to not be left behind…" her eyes glazed over with a sheen of upcoming tears. Sakura would never leave anyone behind the way her team had left her. She grabbed his hand and held it tightly within her own, "I don't want either of us to have to fight to be seen out of chichiue's shadow, only to be lost in each other's."

Her laugh was wet and he absolutely hated it when his aneue cried. Especially since it was his fault this time. Shoto felt his own tears beginning to well up. It was good that they were far away from their house and prying parental eyes. They wouldn't understand. No one else would.

"I love you, Shoto, and I always will."

He would make the world freeze over if that's what aneue wanted.

Song used: Diamonds and Pearls by Prince and The New Power Generation

Hey guys! It's me, again. I'm going to be focusing on three stories over the next couple of months, this one, another (Secret!)xNaruto cross-over, and a surprise revival of another story that got left behind in the dust! You can take a guess but it won't be revealed until it updates! Lol, I'm evil. Anyways, I hope you can accept this story as an apology to my lack of updates and hopefully I'll be able to give it my all! Please read and review!

-Tiny.