Somewhere I will find you

Prologue

Amidst the blood and corpses of the war-torn battlefield, Naruto wanted to laugh at the man who told him that if you wished for something strongly enough, fate would grant it to you.

It was a damnable lie. For all his life, fate had never granted him anything but disappointment, one after another. It teased and taunted with probability of success, with glimmer of hope that something good would finally come to him, before taking it all away in an instant.

One moment, he thought he finally had everything he worked so hard for, the acceptance he had craved from the village that used to hate him for something they did to him. He was even well on his way to win over the only woman he had ever loved and to restore Team 7, the only family that he had ever had.

Only to be taken away in a blink of an eye by the stupid, pointless war that ended with no victory, even to the instigator himself who now numbered among the perished.

Fate was a bitch, he decided. A cruel, cruel bitch that enjoyed the suffering of mankind.

As he looked through his blood-filled vision, he found her dead, broken body lying a few feet away from where he stood. Her rose-colored hair forming a halo around her face, and she would have looked absolutely angelic saved for the blood trailing from the numerous wounds inflicted upon her. The yin seal on her forehead was gone. Her skin, which was already pale, was covered in a white-sheen of death that made her seemed even more ethereal, a stark contrast with the deep red blood made her skin looked even more translucent.

Her beauty in death was simply too heartbreaking to witness, and he felt a lone tear slipped from the corner of his eyes.

As his shaking feet stumbled his way to her, determined to be with her even in death as they were in life, he noticed another body lying on its stomach next to her with one arm thrown protectively over her, as if to protect her from harm.

Already disoriented from heavy blood loss, it took a while for Naruto to realize that the arm on Sakura belonged to Sasuke, and his heart clenched painfully. The time they shared together as Team 7 in life had been as brief as the cherry blossom season, but it became to pinnacle that cemented them together irrevocably. It became the reason that drove almost all his subsequent actions.

As Naruto took one last look at the man he regarded as friend and brother, relentless pangs of regret assaulted his fatigued heart. The Uchiha Prodigy's life had been nothing but a wasteful regret. He had forsaken Team 7 that he regarded as his new family in order to avenge his old one. He suffered endless hardships and heartbreaks, lashed out at allies and enemies alike, did what he thought was righteous only to find that they were all but a pawn of a mad man, that all he did meant nothing. All the revenge, all the sacrifice, they never mattered.

Naruto understood so well that Sasuke's heart, despite it all, held a kind of purity of a naïve child that could not let go of an ideal, and it was that which led him to such a dark path that caused endless cycle of tragedies. Had he not taken the path he did, Naruto was sure they would have been…

Actually, Naruto wasn't sure what they would have been, but he was sure it would be better than this. They would have all been together as Team 7, at least, and that surely would be better than anything. They might have fought, because Naruto knew that deep down, Sasuke did love Sakura as much as he did, but the bond between them would keep them together in the end, he was sure of it.

He saw that while Sasuke's eyes were closed, his expression was by no mean peaceful. It was filled with the same stubborn defiance that it did in life. Naruto could still see the blood stain forming a clear streak under his eyes, indicating an over-usage of his eye power. As his eyes travelled down, he finally noticed a chokuto protruding out from Sasuke's back. Someone must have stabbed him right through his heart. Swift as it was, his death must have been a painful one.

Weeping bitterly now, Naruto knelt down hard next to the bodies that once belonged to his teammates. The action caused his wound to open a little and more blood came gushing down, soaking his jacket. He ignored the pain as he slowly laid himself down besides Sakura and draped one of his arms over her body and Sasuke's arm.

As he felt his consciousness starting to slip away, he could not help but wish that there was something that he could have done to prevent such an ending. As he watched Sakura's pale, lifeless yet always beloved face with a trace of dried-up tears and Sasuke's with blood and anguish written all over, he longed to be the fool that he once was, the fool who believed that if he worked hard enough, fate would one day grant him his wish. That one day, fate would finally grant them the chance to be together at long last.

In his moment of weakness, he wished for a chance to do it all over again.

And he swore he would find them again.

It was the last thing on his mind before consciousness completely slipped away.

When Sasuke woke, his mind became clear it an instant. Strict training and discipline enabled him to clear his mind from sleep in a blink of an eye. Yet, he remained still and did not open his eyes.

He began at once to assess his surrounding carefully. All around him was quiet and he heard a familiar sound of cicada song outside. It must be nighttime, he concluded. He was on a futon with his body covered to the chin by a thick blanket, so he surmised that for the moment, he was safe.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. He saw only darkness, but it posed no problem to his trained eyes. He listened again to make sure no one was around, and he rose to get up.

And he was startled to see his own hand over the blanket.

It was smaller than he remembered. In fact, it was so small that it could not belong to anyone older than five.

He stood up, looking around frantically to see where he was or if there was anything that could tell him what had happened. He tried to see where the light switch was, but could not find any. Instead, there was an ancient-looking oil lamp on the table in the center of the room, so he lid that instead.

He found himself in a spacious, if traditionally-looking bedroom that was beautifully decorated. Not far from the futon he had laid on, there was what seemed to be a dressing table with an ancient-looking polished copper looking glass on it. Sasuke ran over and looked into the glass immediately, dreading what he would see, only to have his fear confirmed.

Uchiha Sasuke, the most feared and powerful ninja of his generation, had returned to his five year-old body.

Roughly the same time, somewhere far away, a blonde ninja was finding himself in the same predicament, and havoc ensued all around him.

"Where the hell am I?!" He ran through winding corridors that seemed endless, determined to find an exit. He felt tired, he felt feverish, but he could not afford to stop. Not now.

Not until he found them.

Just as he thought he found an exit and ran madly toward it, he was pulled back by a pair of much larger hands. He thrashed and fought to free himself to no avail. He shouted at the mysterious hands to let him go, but they held fast. Commotions began to reign over, and more people rushed to surround him. He cried out desperately as he felt himself falling unconscious again.

"Sakura-chan! Sasuke!"

He felt dizziness taking over his mind again as he thought he heard shouts for physicians and anxious bustling echoed all around him. He felt himself being scooped up by a pair of strong arms and he was being rushed back to where he ran from. He wanted to cry out for those mysterious arms to stop, to put him back where he was. He needed to go, he needed to find them, even if he had to claw his way out. He felt hot tears stinging his eyes as he tried to move and couldn't.

Then, before darkness claimed him, he managed one last coherent thought.

Sakura-chan, where are you?

Author's Note

Well, there it is, my first attempt of long, multi-chapter NaruSakuSasu.

Prologue is short, well, because I uploaded to wrong document, to be honest. Such a silly mistake, despite having posted other stories before :(

Ah, well. I'll just save the rest for the next chapter, since I don't want reader to miss those parts (in case they don't come back and reread the prologue).

Hopefully, people will like this. Finger crossed. Let me know what you think of this, eh? Reviews are especially helpful in a long story like this one. I can make it more interesting for you to read, too.

Anyway, thanks for reading. See you next chapter.

Oh, and Happy New Year to all!

PS. Blatant advertising: please visit my other stories, Lately I wonder... and Sakura-chan's Homemade Meals!