Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Witchblade. Naruto is a manga property of Masashi Kishimoto. Witchblade is a comic property of Top Cow Productions.

Summary: Slight AU. Slight divergence after Rescue Gaara Arc. Dark Sakura theme. Couplings: Unknown at this point. Possible NaruHina, NaruSaku, SasuSaku.

A/N: This is my third Naruto fanfic. Although my Hunt for the Bijuu story is my second story, I've decided to put it on a permanent hiatus until further notice. I may delete it and rewrite it one day. For now, I will devote my time to write this new story. My friend, Belletiger, proposed this plot bunny and I stepped up to make her dream come true. This is a slight crossover between Naruto and Witchblade. Witchblade has been known to easily crossover with other titles such as Lara Croft, Justice League, and Battle of the Planets/G-Force. Now, I will see how well it crosses over with the Narutoverse.

For those of you not familiar with Witchblade, look it up on Wikipedia or any comic book site. I've started to read the comic series and recently watched the anime version. I have gained an inspiration to write this story.

This will be a Dark Sakura-theme fic. She will be the Witchblade wielder for this series... so her character might end up OOC due to the dark influence of the artifact. But, other than that, I will (and try) to remain true to her character as well as the other Naruto cast.

So, Belletiger, this one's for you, my friend. Thank for you the inspiration. ;)

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'To Kill, To Live, To Live, To Die...'

'Sought by the greed of Men since the dawn of Humankind, but only bestowed upon the woman whose fate it forever scars - the Witchblade. Is the Righteous Sword of God, or the Hand of the Devil himself?'

'Now new bearer has been chosen and she must discover the answers for herself. As she stands on the brink of destiny, she is forced to seek the balance between ecstasy and ruin.'

'The Destiny of the Witchblade Continues.'

- Witchblade anime

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Witchblade: Sakura

Chapter 1

The Witchblade's Arrival

More than sixty years ago, long before the Kyuubi's attack on Konohagakure, there occurred a strange phenomenon within the Land of the Wind.

One night, a bright object flashed in the calm, dark blue sky above Sunagakure. It looked like a beautiful star from a very far distance. That is until the object came falling from the skies.

It fell.

And fell.

And fell.

Until it landed in the cold sands as a bright flash of white, translucent light pierced through the ever gloomy darkness. It was for that moment that the light slowly faded. There laying in the sands was an object. It looked like a right-handed gauntlet. The armor was silver with black outlines around its sides. Embedded at the center of the gauntlet was an ornate, red jewel. There was a subtle golden aura, that burned like fire until its glow dimmed.

Surprisingly, no one seemed to have noticed the object landing outside the village.

Except for one.

Coming out of her watch post, a young red-haired girl rushed over to investigate the strange phenomenon. She stopped to where the object landed and kneeled over to place her gloved hand over it. Carefully examining it, she picked the mysterious gauntlet up and looked up at the stars above. She raised an eye of suspicion. She wondered if there would ever come a time when something would fall from the heavens... as if there were gods watching over every shinobi village on this world.

As she shook the gauntlet, she dumped out the sand that filled the inside of it. "What is this? It appears to be a gauntlet, but it came from the skies. What could this mean?" Such a strange occurrence. Her attention was diverted as she noticed the red jewel started to glow. "What the devil?!" Alarmed by the strange glow, she dropped the gauntlet and jumped back. Her eyes were still locked onto the artifact. Did it just glow?

"Hey, Chiyo! What's going on out there?!" a group of men called out to her.

The girl heard her fellow male shinobi calling out to her. She glanced over to see two men garbed in matching light brown jackets, which she, too, wore. She, like them, served as guards at the front gate.

Realizing that she left her post, she looked back at the gauntlet. A bit hesitant at first, she wasn't sure if such a mysterious object should have been left out to the open. She couldn't let the chance for a thief to come by and take it.

"That could be worth a lot if I were to sell it," Chiyo stared at the object. She kneeled over and picked it up while placing it inside her jacket. As she zipped up her jacket, she raced back to regroup with her colleagues.

Little did she realize that her life would never be the same again.

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Two years later.

Chiyo found herself facing off against several Missing-nin from a renegade clan between the borders of Land of Wind and the Land of Fire. Her two colleagues, a pair of Hunter-nin, were brutally killed as she was left alone to face four rogue men and a woman.

Now, the men were not really any threat to Chiyo.

The woman, on the other hand, was and there was a reason for the Hunter-nin to pursue her. She was a fairly young woman in her mid-twenties. She had long, brown hair tied into a long pair of twin ponytails. She wore a long-sleeved purple top with a matching skirt. This woman was the first Jinchuuriki container of Shukaku and she had escaped Sunagakure to begin a criminal business outside the Land of Wind.

Realizing that she was nearly out of chakra reserves, she was left to fend against the five-person group. Even with her profound ninja skills and puppet techniques, she couldn't do anything.

The rogue woman stepped forward with arms folded. She dashed over and kneed Chiyo in the gut. The red-haired female doubled over as she grabbed her throbbing stomach.

"Feh, so, what were you going to do? Take me back to the village?" The female Missing-nin scoffed, planting her foot on Chiyo's right hand. "If I break your hands, you won't rely on those stupid puppets. Right, bitch? Now, beg!" As she barked out at the puppet user, she pressed her heel further deep into Chiyo's right hand. "Yes, c'mon, bitch. Beg!"

Her male cohorts watched on as they snickered over their leader's cruel treatment.

Chiyo gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the pain that shot out within her hand. Gripping a handful of dirt in her left hand, she resisted the urge to scream and bow to the female Missing-nin.

"Awww, c'mon now! Why don't you beg? Hmmm?" The cruel woman smiled, her eyes suddenly turning from blue to golden brown. Her irises turned into black stars as they pierced a blood lusted stare at the Hunter-nin. "...C'mon, you're making me impatient! BEG!! Then, maybe, I can torture you... nice and slowly."

"Kill that Suna bitch, boss!" one of the men encouraged his leader.

Little did they realize that their leader already exposed her other 'self.' They had yet to realize the secret behind her blood lusted temperament and they were about to find out the hard way.

As she turned, the rogue woman had a malevolent grin on her face. She waved her right hand across as a column of sand shot forward and caught the poor man that cheered her on.

"Did I ask you to ENCOURAGE ME?!" She roared, crushing the man within the sand column. Her grin widened as the man exploded into a bloody mess.

The three other men looked on with horror as their colleague was brutally slaughtered. He was butchered right in front of them and killed like an animal by their 'possessed' leader.

"Do you want to die with him?! WHO ELSE WANTS SOME?!"

Horrified by what she witnessed, Chiyo slowly backed off as she shuddered. Looking down at her right wrist, she undid her sleeve and exposed a silver bracelet. Exposed at the center of the bracelet was a red jewel.

Closing her eyes, Chiyo took a deep breath. Guess there's no choice. I'm out of chakra. This is the only way to stop the Shukaku vessel. With that, she watched as the red jewel glowed brightly.

Ignoring Chiyo, the rogue woman advanced toward her followers. Her eyes now became filled with malice and a lust for bloodshed. Killing that man was enough to fuel her obsession to kill. As the men started to run off, the female Jinchuuriki waved her hands and caught each of them in sand columns. With each of them ensnared, she closed her hand and crushed them all with simultaneous ease.

SQUISH.

A rain of dried blood and sand showered the scenery. The female Jinchuuriki danced around the blood as she opened her mouth. Drops of dried blood fell into her mouth and quenched her thirst... enough to satisfy the beast within her.

"Yes... YES!! MORE!! MUST HAVE MORE!!" She laughed, her mind completely lost any sense of rationality. The beast had completely taken her over and wanted out. "KEE HA HA HA!! PERHAPS I SHOULD CONTINUE BY KILLING THAT SUNA WHORE!!"

Suddenly, she noticed a shimmering red glow behind her as she turned to see Chiyo rushing toward her.

"You want me? COME AND GET ME!!" Chiyo roared, her right fist covered in something akin to dark gray armor. She thrusted her right arm forward and punched the female Jinchuuriki's face.

The force of the blow sent the psychotic woman flying back as she hit the wall of a boulder.

Chiyo closed her right hand as the armor quickly expanded throughout her body. Her uniform was torn as the armor ripped it to shreds. Her hair changed from a light red to a darker shade of red and extended down her back. Her eyes became black as her pupils turned golden yellow and her irises turned black like a shadow. Her skin turned into a darker shade of peach, almost grayish pink. The armor covered both arms, her legs, her back and around her now larger buxom. The right hand of her armor had the shining red jewel, which empowered Chiyo with an ancient and extraterrestrial power. This ancient power substituted for the lack of chakra she had.

The female Jinchuuriki pulled herself off the boulder and glanced over at the transformed Chiyo. She sensed the overwhelming surge of alien power flowing within the Suna-nin's body.

A sick smile formed on her face as an urge for battle consumed her demonic mind. "Kee hee hee hee! HA HA! How marvelous... this energy... this power... I love it. Killing the weak and helpless was growing tiresome. You're not as helpless as I thought, Chiyo. I'm impressed. I had no idea you, too, possessed something incapable of human comprehension! Kee hee hee... Look at you."

Chiyo stood her ground, closing her right hand. Claws now protruded out of her armored gauntlets. "I'm nothing like you. You wouldn't understand anything about this power. I possess the Witchblade."

"Don't flatter yourself. You've become a monster like me!" The woman licked her lips, as the left side of her face started to turn puffy and soft. Then, her entire left side became soft like brownish tan tissue as long fangs protruded out of her mouth. A long, fat tail jutted out of her back as it smashed the boulder behind her into rubble. As the boulder became crushed , rock debris kicked up into the air as it covered the area where both women faced each other.

The Suna-nin assumed a fighting stance and narrowed her eyes, preparing to engage the Jinchuuriki.

"Witchblade? Care to tell what it is?"

"You'll never know the secrets of this artifact," the Suna-nin raised her right arm, exposing the Witchblade's jewel. "And as for me being a monster like you." A cruel smile curled on her lips as long, tendril blades protruded out of her dark, wild-fire hair. As she chuckled, Chiyo's slightly deepened. "You thought you're the only one who likes to shed some blood." With that, her golden eyes gleamed as she advanced forward with superhuman-like speed.

The female Jinchuuriki cackled madly as she lunged across and shot her left arm forward. "KEE HA HA HA!! COME FORTH AND PREPARE TO DIE!!"

Suddenly, as Chiyo came within the demon's reach, a long blade jutted out of her right arm. She quickly slashed across vertically as she severed the demon's right left arm off.

"RAAAAUGH!!" The Jinchuuriki roared, dropping down to one knee as blood sprayed out of the limbless stump. She glanced over to see her severed, right arm laying on the floor in a pool of crimson mass. Her eyes widened as her body trembled and became consumed with insane anger. "Keh... You bitch... I'll... I'll..." Without thinking rationally, the Jinchuuriki became blinded by her and Shukaku's rage as she lunged forth. "I'LL CONSUME YOU AND THE WITCHBLADE!!"

"Feh. You weak-minded fool..."

As Chiyo readied her right arm, she tightened her claws and gathered a burning ball of red light. She made precautionary actions and lashed her spear-like tendrils at the Jinchuuriki. The demon tried to fight off the tendrils, but they managed to latch on tightly around her limbs. Chiyo physically restrained her as she prepared to fire the energy ball condensed in her right hand.

"Thank you, demon. For you've given the Witchblade a reason to continue fighting... now farewell..."

With that, she fired at the demon.

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Standing at the foothill of tall green, lush hill, Chiyo stood twenty feet from where a cavern stood quietly in front of her. She took a moment to glance at the bracelet in her right hand.

Following the successful capture of the psychotic vessel, the Shukaku was extracted and sealed in the teakettle until another vessel could be found.

However, Chiyo could only look back to the battle with the demon. She not only acted completely out of character, but nearly obliterated the Jinchuuriki. Her orders were simply to immobilize and capture the demon. The Witchblade's dark power influenced Chiyo and corrupted her into a blood lusted berserker. Once engaging the Shukaku's vessel in battle, the Witchblade developed a new erotic pleasure of fighting these rare, powerful demons.

The Witchblade sought to challenge these demons.

However, Chiyo had other plans and denied the Witchblade any chance of fighting another Jinchuuriki or a Bijuu for that matter.

To ensure that she didn't endanger her fellow villagers, she left Sunagakure for a brief time. She did not want to further disgrace her people by wielding an alien artifact that may curse everyone close to her and completely change her into a mindless berserker that sought only to kill and develop an intoxicating lust for violence. That is not the way of life she wanted to bear.

Once the young Suna-nin arrived toward the cavern's end, she located an ideal spot to separate herself from the demonic artifact.

She found out beforehand that she wouldn't force the bracelet off. Nor could she break it.

She was left with only one other option.

Taking out a sharpened kunai knife, she pressed it against her right arm and closed her eyes tightly. "Our time together comes to an end." From this forth, our bond ties have been severed... Witchblade.

Pressing the kunai deeper, she winced and cried out. Her cries echoed out from the cavern and to that day forever haunted her memories.

xxxxx

Shooting her eyes wide open, Chiyo was brought back to reality and to the current time.

She suddenly reminisced those events from more than sixty years ago. The old woman remembered her bond with that artifact. That extraterrestrial yet wicked artifact. The Witchblade.

Why did she suddenly remember those horrific memories just now?

Why the Witchblade?

Taking a moment to relax, Chiyo took a deep breath as she shifted her eyes to Haruno Sakura. The pink-haired kunoichi walked over and gave Chiyo a hand while lifting her off the ground. The two women stared over to where puppets scattered across the devastated cavern. Sitting lifeless with his head hanging down was Sasori of the Red Sand. The battle had taken a great toll on both Sakura and Chiyo as the first Akatsuki member was slain.

Meanwhile, Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi pursued Deidara to retrieve Gaara's body.

Chiyo glanced at Sakura again, placing a hand on her chest as if she were about to vomit.

"Chiyo baa-sama!" Sakura cried, putting an arm around the old woman. "Are you okay?"

"Just worn out, Sakura... Listen..."

"Yes?" The pink-haired kunoichi queried, catching her breath and wiping the sweat from her brows. "We really should go find Naruto and Kakashi-sensei. They're after that other Akatsuki guy," Sakura said as her eyes turned toward Sasori. "By finding out this spy, we'll get closer to finding Sasuke-kun."

"The Akatsuki... We barely managed to defeat Sasori together. No doubt you and your friends will run into many problems with this organization. They are all S-class criminals."

Sakura mused. "I know."

"You and your colleagues can't defeat them alone... Sakura-chan, but I do know of a weapon that can ultimately bring about their downfall and prevent them from extracting anymore Bijuu."

"A weapon?" The girl blinked, befuddled by the old woman's alternative choice. "What kind of weapon?"

"A weapon that does not have any origins within this world. It... is a weapon... only a woman can wield... It was a weapon I once possessed and have long since sealed it..."

"This weapon...? What's it called?"

Chiyo murmured, breathing deeply and calmly. "The Witchblade..."

Sakura inquired with curiosity. "The Witchblade?"

"As I said, only a woman can wield it... A strong woman such as myself in my youth was able to harness a great power without the need of chakra..." The old woman coughed, allowing Sakura to hold her steadily. "...and with it I defeated the first Jinchuuriki containing the Shukaku."

The pink-haired medic-nin gasped as she heard this startling revelation. "You... defeated a Jinchuuriki using this Witchblade?! Is it that powerful?"

"Yes, and that was over 60 years ago. I since then cut off my ties with it forever, but I remember where I hid it," Chiyo exposed her wooden right arm, the exact one where she cut off her real arm. "I didn't want to have to tell anyone this. I got rid of it because I feared it would bring great misery to my people and I did not want to disgrace them... with such a demonic power... But, now, perhaps it is time for the Witchblade to be used... to stop the Akatsuki at all costs."

"And who are you going to ask to wield it? You're in no condition now..."

Chiyo smiled briefly as she took Sakura's right hand. "...I've already found her. Sakura-chan, you are the one. I want you to wield the Witchblade and use it to help your friends."

Sakura was stunned to hear this. She couldn't even form the right words in her mind as she watched Chiyo undoing her glove. "Chiyo baa-sama?"

"There," the old woman pointed to Sakura's right wrist. "It'll go there."

"What makes you think I'm ready to wield such an artifact? I don't even know if I be trusted with it."

"You've proven yourself worthy in this battle just now with Sasori. By helping me to defeat Sasori, the Witchblade is more than willing to accept you as the next wielder."

Staring at her right wrist, Sakura processed everything Chiyo said in her mind. She wasn't sure whether she would believe it. An artifact with great power and enough to defeat the Akatsuki? It sounded unbelievable to many, but then again... there have been Bijuus and shinobi able to summon giant beasts.

Sakura put on her glove, turning around to face Chiyo. "Tell me everything I need to know about the Witchblade before I'm totally convinced. After all, you said you were the previous wielder."

"Are you ready to know all there is to know?"

Nodding her head, Sakura replied. "Yes."

"Very well then."

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Next time

Chapter 2: Finding the Witchblade!

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A/N: Whew, I managed to get this done in a day. I based Chiyo's Witchblade form more on Masane's, but Sakura's eventual form will look different. Anyway, this is just the start. If I made any errors, I'll just go back and correct anything in the future.

So, what do you think of Chiyo being the previous Witchblade user? Once again, Belletiger was the one who kindly suggested this to me. After her, of course, will be Sakura's turn.

I'm already starting to become inversed in the Witchblade universe. Chalk that up as another series I've gotten into. Plus, I believe this is the first attempt at a Naruto/Witchblade crossover. I think.

Tell me what you think. Should I continue? I know I do. I think I'm going to enjoy writing this. If you have any suggestions on what you'd like to see and what I should do with Sakura, feel free to tell me or PM me. :)

Please, read and review! Until then, take care!