Heaven's Gate

A/N: this is my first Naruto fic. I'm not that familiar of the new happenings after Sasori's death. Aww. Why'd HE have to die? Oh well. I'm a big SasoSaku fan so I'm only inspired to write about them. I'm a fan of KabuShi too, a lil' bit of SaiSaku and ItaSaku on the side. I just bought my beautiful Narutimate Accel 2 (in Japanese) coz of Sasori. I love the TS characters, they're so tall. Anyway, back to the story.

Summary: Everyone thought she died six years ago. There was evidence that she was no longer with them. So, who's this beautiful doctor who looks so much like her in a small village? She claims her name to be Saori but no, he's not falling for that one. SasoSaku.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I can't produce such a neat manga like the creator does, like in Part 2. I envy the neatness.

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First Drop – Little Lost Blossom

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Six years ago…

They rushed to her house and entered her room when she did not come to a mission one day. She was already in the ranks of ANBU and was always early for a mission. This was a first and surely, after looking at the condition of her room, something was definitely wrong. Her bed was at disarray, blood coated the floors of the room and a large chunk of her hair littered it.

Naruto could not believe his eyes when he saw no trace of the ever so sweet and strong Sakura-chan anywhere. Sai just stared at the chunks of hair on the floor before walking slowly to it. Tsunade shook her head disbelievingly at the thought of Sakura dead but from the amount of blood, she could not be alive. She as the best medic-nin around should know.

"Who…did this…to her?" Naruto growled, clearly trying to suppress his anger.

"…Ugly's gone?" Sai thought out loud.

One of the ANBUs that were investigating the place confirmed that Sakura was attacked by an Akatsuki by the name of Zetsu…and that she was eaten. Alive. This was proven by pieces of flesh amongst the blood.

"Haruno Sakura is dead."

Tsunade slammed her fist to the wall, creating a large crack. She bit her lips and even though she needed to be calm and composed as Hokage, this was her student! Haruno Sakura, her star student who just turned nineteen!

"Naruto."

Naruto turned to Tsunade. "What?"

"I'm appointing you as the new Hokage. Effective starting…whenever you're ready." With that, Tsunade left the scene, letting a tear fall down her face, taking a tearful Shizune with her.

"DAMN! I'M HOKAGE NOW AND SAKURA-CHAN'S DEAD! WHAT KIND OF SICK GAME IS THIS, HUH?!" he shouted out to the ceiling, completely ignoring Sai who was stiff kneeling on the floor, examining her hair.

Sai grabbed the chunk of hair and stuffed it in his bag and got up and left.

"Sakura-chan!!!!!"

-

The present time…

Everyone thought the Akatsuki were finally wiped out after an all-out battle for Naruto. Naruto wiped out everyone in the Akatsuki desperately when they launched an attack a week after the discovery of Sakura's gruesome death. To those who knew of her death and how close Sakura was to them, fought for her and defeated the Akatsuki with all their might, making sure they will never step foot onto Konoha grounds ever again. It was only after the great battle did Naruto accept Tsunade's proposal with a proud face. Finally, he did something unforgettable for Konoha. His appointment as the new Hokage was met with positive feedback and Konoha was now a peaceful village once again.

Well, so far that is.

Little did they know the Akatsuki are always prepared for any fallen battles that they have to go through. There was an agreement to ensure that they get their missions done and it was that every one of them creates a strong body-double while their real body rest in a time-unaffected coffin. They do not age in the coffin yet all their memories from the body-double are transmitted to them to ensure no memory loss occurs and that they can exact revenge if they want on their killers. Their real bodies can only be awoken if all the Akatsuki ring bearers' pulses die off.

So now all of them are awake and are ready to face the world once again.

Though now each of them only have half of their souls left -the other being in their respective body-double- they are still the Akatsuki. Their leader, Pein has already instructed that all of them find a way to gain more missing-nins to join their ranks. They were not as strong as before so it was the best option.

One of them, Sasori, has already had a target in mind when he got the news of a strong medic-nin residing somewhere in a small village without any affiliation to an existing village. His spy informed that the medic-nin came to the village six years ago and does not know where she came from and remembers only her abilities as a medic-nin. Sasori was of course interested since he was defeated by a medic-nin himself, ten years ago. He was a bit disappointed to know that the young spitfire was killed by a rogue who pretended to be Zetsu…and was claimed to be eaten alive. Oh, the least he could do was to change her into a valuable puppet rather than eating her and ended up becoming…shit. Poor her.

Well, he was now on the way to the small village but of course, he was not left unscathed. For now he was still in his real body and no longer a puppet that could not feel pain. Yes, he still had his reserve puppets although he needed to fix the broken Sandaime Kazekage puppet. Thankfully Deidara was nice enough to pick up the pieces for him. He even picked up his parent's puppets for him and his own puppet body. There was a lot to be done.

Sasori's left arm was swelling, he was sure. With the forgotten pain now felt, it was killing him slowly. If he did not fix his arm, he was of course forced to cut it off and fix a wooden hand as replacement. Not that he minded it much.

"Damn rogues…if only I had the Sandaime…it wouldn't have come to this…" he said bitterly to himself as he continued to jump from one tree to another.

The village was now in his view. He could see the little movements of villagers from afar. He was right to not have worn his Akatsuki cloak though, or it would have caused a fuss, no matter how small. His eyes narrowed as he drew closer to the lively village. He immediately landed on the ground lightly and dashed to the nearest tree to hide himself from view. He peered a little.

There -on the large plain opening, the centre of the village- was a commotion. From what his ears could pick up, there was a person in need of medical help urgently. Crowds were gathering quickly around. He could smell the faint odor of blood. He was curious as to how the amnesiac medic-nin looked like, so he waited, patiently.

Finally, the crowds dispersed slowly to allow the medic-nin to pass through.

He could not believe his own eyes when he saw the medic-nin.

It was none other than the brat of a spitfire, Haruno Sakura!

He clenched his fists unknowingly as he continued to watch her work her abilities. Her precision in transferring her chakra to her palms and healing the fallen man in front of her never failed to amaze him. He still remembers her talent in fighting and healing even when it was through his double's eyes.

He stopped his legs from approaching the girl- no, she was a woman now. Gone now was her childish girly looks who was trying hard to look like a proud woman. Now she looked mature and was quite tall, albeit still shorter than him. Her hair was longer now and was tied into a single ponytail that rested atop her left breast. She wore a black loose kimono and she did not have a Konoha head protector with her anymore. Her eyes were still, even at a distance, glimmered like emeralds.

He was confused, of course. Six years ago, she was pronounced dead, with evidence, even. And now, she was here, standing in the flesh, all grown up and no more a Konoha-nin. He waited -even though he did not like waiting- for her to be alone.

He needed to confront her, no matter what the consequences were.

…

Sasori walked by the shadows, avoiding the perceptive part of the villagers and approached a very old man who was resting in front of a house, smoking. He masked his chakra, just in case a ninja was stationed close by. He crept up behind him before asking a simple question:

"Who was that beautiful doctor?" even he had to gulp down the pride of calling his killer beautiful.

The old man glanced up at him and chuckled. He pulled away the pipe that he was smoking from his mouth and gently tapped it to a small tray next to him. He looked up to Sasori again and laughed.

"Why young man? Interested in her hand in marriage?" he asked the puppeteer who turned pale at the thought.

"…maybe. What's her name?" he asked, just to keep the conversation real.

The old man sighed. "The poor woman forgot her name. The only thing she remembers is her healing abilities…she calls herself Saori. She's been living here for six years, as a doctor."

"…exactly six years?" Sasori pressed.

The old man clenched his jaw, his brows knotted into a frown. "Hm…not really. Well, why don't you ask her yourself? She should be behind her house picking up herbs now. That's her daily routine anyway…"

Sasori gave a curt nod as he looked around the place. The old man noticed this and chuckled again.

"Her house is the one closest to the forest, it's a small place fit for her and her assistant and her patients. You can't miss it."

Sasori nodded again as he walked away. "Thank you."

"Oh wait!" the old man called out.

Sasori turned around.

"Be discreet about the proposal! I don't think she's the type to say 'yes' if you flat out ask it out of her! Even though you ARE a handsome lad!" the old man advised, chuckling.

Sasori scoffed before turning away again.

…

Sasori sneaked behind her, making sure to keep a fair space apart between them, sure that she might just punch him senseless if he was too close. It did not hurt if he was a puppet, but now? He might die. He was a puppeteer after all, he might be skillful in the art of puppetry but he had a weak build. One punch could destroy all of his bones.

He observed her, confused that she had not noticed his presence. He admired her growth. She was a piece of art herself. She was truly in full blossom now and no longer a weak bud. But maybe, true to her name, Sakura flowers only last a few moments before slowly withering away.

"You blossomed into a beautiful flower, Sakura-san."

With that, her herb-picking activity stopped and she paused. She slowly regained her composure before slowly turning around to face him. He loved the way her pale green eyes widened when she saw him. She dropped the basket she was holding and spilled the contents it stomached.

"Miss me?" Sasori playfully asked, smirking.

She could only stare at him eyes wide before closing her eyes. She opened them back and from his point of view, has lost its surprise and was now calm and composed. He took a step forward to gouge a reaction from her.

When she finally spoke, her voice was indifferent.

"…who are you? You are not from this village."

Sasori was shocked but quickly reverted. 'She's just playing…' he thought.

"I know it's you, Sakura-san. I know that pink hair anywhere."

"…so my name is Sakura?" she asked back.

Again, he could not mask his shock. Was she really amnesiac?

No.

He finally decided to use the only way to ensure that she was indeed the Sakura from ten years ago. It was the only way.

He took out a scroll from his cloak and opened it, performed a seal and released one of his new puppets. He could only use one of his hands to control it but he did not care. He winced in pain when he tried to use his left and decided he did not need it. One hand was enough.

He attached chakra strings to the puppet and narrowed his eyes at the woman in front of him who did not do anything to protect herself. Surely, she knows that he was going to use the puppet to attack her.

He flicked his hand and the puppet jumped forward.

Sakura only blinked in surprise as she jumped away, evading the puppet's extended arms. She brought her fists in front of her to block the next attack and rolled away. She then took a battle stance, her fists ready.

With that, the puppet was called back and sealed.

"You cannot lie to me, Sakura-san."

Sakura dropped her stance and just stared at him.

"I know that stance anywhere. It killed me."

Sakura only gasped as he pointed her with an accusing finger.

"Haruno Sakura, missing-nin, I came here to retrieve you."

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A/N: Done with first chapter! Hm, I dunno how well I did for this one. I need to continue reading Naruto to be more knowledgeable about it. I didn't want Sasori to be too old for Sakura, so I decided that the Akatsuki create a body-double. I hope Sasori's not too OOC. I need to plan the whole thing more but this is the beginning. I hope it's acceptable. I don't want to disgrace this wonderful pairing. For this, I might need a beta-reader but well, by next year then. I'm going to Japan for an exchange program on the 18th for a year so I might not update. Sorry!!

If you're a fan of this pairing, do review. It's not a must but tell me what you think. Please don't flame if you hate this pairing…btw, why would you hate it? It's sweet! SasoSaku rules!