Sakura felt like she was floating. It was an odd feeling, something she hadn't experienced before and something she didn't expect after the fatal hit to her stomach. Her hands flew to her stomach, as if to search for the gaping, bloody hole, but she found nothing. She was touching smooth, warm skin, with the only imperfection being the scar Sasori had left her as a memory of their battle. As if she could ever forget. She tried to open her eyes but they stayed close, and after two more tries she gave up and just gave in to the floating, peaceful feeling. She emitted a relaxed sigh, dropping her hands to the side. She enjoyed the serenity and the lack of pain immensely. She didn't expect this after she died. She rarely thought about what came after you'd died, but this feeling of peacefulness and belonging wasn't something she had ever imagined. Once or twice, in her worst states, she had thought she'd end up in Hell, because of all of her failures, the biggest of all being failing to stop Sasuke and disappointing Naruto.

Suddenly, something grabbed her one of her hands, fingers curling around her wrist and yanked her downwards. She yelped and fell down, unable to stop herself. Surprisingly, she fell on her feet, although she did stumble before a hand grabbed her shoulder and stadied her on her feet. Her eyes were wide open, and she was staring at two pair of feet standing on immaculate whiteness. It wasn't ever floor. It felt hard underneath her feet, but strange. Her attention focused on the bigger feet, clearly male, and she slowly looked up, coming face to face with a handsome face, adorned with long black hair and the blackest eyes she had seen on someone since Sasuke. She blinked a couple of times as she stared at the familiar face, fully aware that he his fingers were still tightly curled around her wrist and that his other hand was on her shoulder, as if expecting her to fall after she had seen who he was. Sakura did feel like falling down, but she didn't allow herself weaknesses like this, especially in front of people like Uchiha Itachi.

"What's going on?" Her voice was hoarse, but her confusion and slight panic were detectable. Itachi seemed to sense that and he slowly let go of her hand and shoulder. His arms dropped by his sides and he stepped back, his lips curling a small, sad smile, something that startled Sakure even more than having him hold her hand.

"I'm sorry to say this, Haruno-san, but you are dead." He said this slowly, every word pronounced clearly. Sakura gulped and wrapped her arms around her torso. She knew that already, but to have someone else tell her (a dead man, at that), made it more real. There was no going back for her. Her eyes darted around the whiteness that surrounded them as she tried to hold back her tears and get rid of the bothersome stinging in her eyes. She wasn't going to cry. Not now, at least, not in front of him. When she looked back at Itachi, she saw him examining his hands as if they were supremely interesting, and with a rush of surprise, she realised he was giving her the privacy of composing herself.

"Okay. I'm dead." She said out loud, breathing through her nose. "What now?"

"You come with me." Itachi said, turning around.

"Where are we going?" Sakura couldn't keep the suspicion from her voice. She knew the truth about him and she highly doubted he'd do her any harm, especially now that she was dead, but old habits die hard.

"You don't have to worry about your safety, Haruno-san." Itachi said with a hint of amusement in his voice. "You are safe here." Sakura frowned but nodded slowly. Sakura didn't understand where they were going. They were surrounded completely by white space, she didn't see any exit. Just as she opened her mouth to ask, an outline of a door appeared in front of them and Itachi reached out to push it open. She closed her mouth with a snap, staring in bewilderment.

"After you." Itachi said as he stepped aside and waited for her to walk through the door. Sakura blinked, still surprised by his immaculate manners and stepped tentatively over the threshold. She was in, what looked like, a throne room. There were eight massive stone thrones positioned in a circle around an equally massive table. It was considerably darker out there and she felt her eyes relax, no longer having to strain in the bright, white room of nothingness. She looked over at Itachi questioningly, but he was looking around the room with just as much interested and curiosity she was feeling.

"You don't know where we are?" She asked, a bit crossly. He said she was safe, but he didn't know where they were going either. He couldn't have been sure she'd be safe.

"Actually, I think I do." He said thoughtfully, walking towards one of the thrones. "This is where the gods have their meetings." Sakura started, looking around her in awe. She supposed it was a given, a massive throne room like that looked like an appropriate place for the gods to have a chit-chat. But still, to be standing there, walking on the ground the gods stepped on, breathing the same air they breathed was the definition of awesome.

"It's empty." She said, disappointment dripping from her voice. Of course, the gods probably had other things to do than to sit around waiting for her to show up, but still.

"Not quite." A female voice came from somewhere close behind her. She whirled around and gaped when she saw the woman standing about three feet away from her. She had long, wavy black hair, pale skin and coffee brown eyes. She was dressed in a beautiful, glittering white dress that fell to the ground and dragged behind her. She had a thin, elegant tiara in her hair and the stone in the middle seemed to change colours, from red to green, blue and purple. It was magnificent to watch. She was magnificent. Possibly the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. "Oh, you flatter me." The woman said, laughing lightly. "Thank you for bringing her here, Itachi." Sakura looked over her shoulder and saw Itachi walking towards them. He stopped next to Sakura and bowed lowly.

"It was my pleasure, Mei-sama." He replied smoothly and straightened.

The woman laughed lightly again. "He is such a gentleman, is he not? So very hard to find nowadays, especially amongst the human race." She sighed deeply. "No matter! This isn't why I asked you two to meet me here. My name is Mei, dear, and I'm glad to have finally met you. I've been watching you and your friends for quite some time now. I haven't seen such a big group of strong people for a long time now. It was refreshing to watch. But, unfortunately —" The woman, Mei, gave Sakura sad look. "You are here now. But we won't have your death go to waste." She chuckled merrily, her eyes glittering mischievously. "You see, I have a plan." She glanced at Itachi. "and Itachi here is a part of it. "

Itachi and Sakura exchanged a look, not sure what kind of plan would involve both of them. Judging by the glint in Mei's eyes, she had a feeling she wouldn't like it.

"Oh, don't be so negative, dear." Mei said. Sakura frowned, realising this was the second time she had spoken as if she had read her mind. Looking at Mei and her knowing look, she realised that she could read her mind. Great, she thought sarcastically. "I try to block it out most of the time." Mei told her assuringly. "Now to the plan. I don't have much time before that irritating Inari comes here. She's such a gossip, and she doesn't like me." Mei scowled darkly, but her face brightened when she looked at them again. "Itachi, remember what I told you when you first came here? That I'll give you a second chance when the time comes?"

Itachi nodded slowly, his features shifting slightly to show incredulity.

Mei nodded. "Yes, the time has come. I've been waiting for this young lady here, either she or her friend, Naruto, but I doubt he'd be joining us soon and I can't hardly make you wait that long. I'm not cruel."

"Excuse me, but what are you talking about?" Sakura asked with a frown, looking between them. The fact that Itachi was letting them see what he was feeling spoke volumes. Sakura's curiosity got bigger and bigger and she turned to look questioningly at the goddess.

"Itachi will explain it all to you." Mei said. "But now you'll have to go." She extended her hand, palm up, and Sakura saw a thin silvery chain and a small pin with the kanji for destiny. "The pin is for you, Itachi, the necklace for Sakura, of course. You are to use them only as a last resort, in life or death situation. You can use it only three times, so use it wisely. It can be extremely dangerous. Now, put it on so I can establish a connection between us."

"What's going on?" Sakura asked, confused. Itachi took the pin without hesitation or questions and pinned it to his black shirt.

"Itachi will explain, Sakura." Mei said, her voice suddenly firm. "Put the necklace on."

"But I —" But Mei cut her off and turned to Itachi.

"Itachi, please." She said. Itachi nodded and took the necklace. Sakura jumped when he turned to her, as if ready to clasp it around her neck.

"I can do it myself." She snapped, her voice coming out harsher than she intended. The grabbed the necklace jerkily and clasped it around her neck.

Mei was all smiles again. She closed her eyes briefly, and Sakura felt the strangest sensation spreading through her entire body. She shook slightly, her eyes opening wide as she stared at the smiling goddess. "There!" She exclaimed, opening her eyes. She clapped her hands together and smiled happily. "We're all set. Now, Itachi take her hand."

Sakura opened her mouth to protests but snapped her mouth shut when Mei shot her a stern look. She let Itachi take her hand, feeling extremely uncomfortable. Mei smiled. "There, you see how easy it is, Sakura? Now, close your eyes, this might feel a bit uncomfortable.." Against her better judgement, Sakura closed her eyes and waited. She didn't have to wait long. A cold feeling started to creep up her legs and she squeezed Itachi's hand tightly. He squeezed back, as if assuring her she wasn't alone, which she would have thought as sweet, if not for the fact that her consciousness was slowly slipping away from her. She felt faint and she tried to open her eyes, but they stayed firmly shut. Just as she started to panic, she lost the last drop of consciousness left her and she fell into complete darkness.

oOoOo

Sakura woke up in a middle of a grass field, the gentle midday sun shining brightly above her. She blinked a couple of times as she pulled herself up, looking around her in complete bewilderment. On her right, she could see a portion of something big, like a large wall. She looked around, searching for Itachi, but he was nowhere in sight. She slowly stood up but stumbled. Thankfully, she managed to regain balance before she fell down on her ass. She blinked a couple of times as she stared at the ground, reaching out to run a hand through her hair. She blinked when her hair surfaced from her hair fairly quickly. In fact, she couldn't feel it falling down her back anymore. She had grown it long to about the middle of her back, but her hair was impossibly short now. Almost like..

She looked down at her hands, small and smooth, unmarred by hard work and scars, clean of blood. She blinked and looked down at herself, panic starting to settle in her. Her legs were short and skinny, she was wearing a painfully familiar red dress, and there was no hair to get in her eyes.

"No way..." She said. "No freaking way." She touched her face, as if to assure herself that she was real, but she felt the touch, she touched her soft cheeks, a bit chubby, not yet lost all the baby fat. "What's going on?" She muttered to herself as she looked around, as if her answer would pop out from behind a tree. "This can't be happening. This is impossible."

"I'll give you a second chance when the times comes... I've been waiting for this young lady here..."

"No way." Sakura gaped. There was no fucking way. She was being ridiculous. This couldn't be happening. It was impossible. No one could travel back in time. No one. Except a goddess, apparently.

No.

This couldn't be the answer. Maybe she was in some sort of a bizarre genjutsu. After all, Itachi was involved and he was a master of genjutsu. She brought her hands together and concentrated, hoping it was a genjutsu. "Kai!" She shouted. She opened her eyes and found that she was still standing in the middle of the field, the gentle breeze rustling her long hair and blowing shorter strands in her eyes. "Kai! Kai! KAI!" Nothing happened. No matter how many times she repeated it or how much chakra she put into it, the picture of the beautiful field didn't waver. She crumbled to the ground and put her head in her hands. What was she going to do now? If this wasn't a mean genjutsu, than she was really back in time. What was she supposed to do? What did they expect her to do?

She was terrified.

Maybe she was just going crazy. She was bound to crack some day.

It was a plausible, albeit undesirable. She sighed as she looked up and fisted her hands in her hair, frowning deeply. The large wall caught her eyes and her head snapped to her right. It looked familiar and Sakura had no doubt what was behind the large wall. She stood up slowly, more careful this time and tested her step. She felt odd, unbalanced. Her brain was telling to to take bigger steps. She wasn't supposed to be that short. She wasn't used to the shorter limbs and smaller weight. She felt weird in her skin.

Exactly how I felt when I was twelve.

She sighed and pushed her hair behind her ears. Well, she had nothing else to do but go. She wanted to see if Konoha was the way she remembered it to be.

oOoOo

It was. Sakura walked down the familiar streets, seeing the same people she remembered seeing when she was twelve. The Hokage mountain had only four heads, which meant that she had landed somewhere before Naruto and Jirayia went to search for Tsunade, which also meant that Sasuke was still in the village. A thrill shut up her body, but she squashed it down. The last time she had seen Sasuke, he had tried to kill her. As much as she wanted to forget it had ever happened, she couldn't. He had been set on killing her. He hadn't hesitated at all. If it hadn't been for Naruto, he would have killed her with the Chidori. She shuddered violently at the memory of the deadly jutsu, the shrieking and cracking behind her, the thought of this being the last thing she'd ever hear before Sasuke shoved it in her. The boy who she loved stupidly and unconditionally, killing her in cold blood.

She swallowed, her throat suddenly feeling tight. No, she had cried enough tears about that. She wasn't going to cry anymore. Besides, she'd probably look extremely weird if she suddenly burst into tears in the middle of one of Konoha's busiest streets. She changed her course towards her house. She needed to pull herself together and act normal, because her mother had the uncanny ability to see right through her. Sometimes, she had better intuition than a ninja and that was saying something. On her way to her house, she was stopped by Sasuke, who nearly trampled her over.

The shock of seeing him again in his thirteen year old form was startling to say the least. She stared at him, in her shock not noticing the frantic, almost crazy look on his face.

"Sakura! Have you seen Naruto?" He was nearly yelling. That snapped her out of her shock and she blinked a couple of times, nothing the way his chest heaved up and down and his eyes were shining with maniac light. She took a step back, shaking her head. "Damn it!" He spun on his and continued to run, jumping on a nearby building. Sakura watching go with wide eyes, until something clicked. She remembered the last time had been so frantic to find Naruto, and that hadn't ended well at all.

"Wait, Sasuke!" She shouted after him and pumped chakra in her legs to help her with her speed. She caught up to him when he stopped in front of Ichiraku's. She frowned as she glanced at the road forward. Her hands' clenched into fists and she continued to run on top of the building, the direction of the hotel where she knew Naruto and Jirayia were staying in. She landed on the roof of the hotel building, breathing heavily. She could feel three chakra signatures, one of which was Naruto's, the other two she knew belonged to Itachi and his partner, Kisame. She looked around. She had to get Jirayia to interfere earlier than the last time. He had to get rid of the two of them before Sasuke showed up. She jumped off the building, landing neatly on her feet and startling a few people. Jirayia could be in only one place. She didn't have to even search for long. She heard Jirayia's booming laugh coming from within a dingy bar and she quickly burst through the door, not caring what she might find in there. She doubted he had gotten lucky anyway.

"Jirayia-sama!" She cried out.

"Wha-?" Sakura wrinkled her nose when she saw his lecherous expression. His expression cleared when he saw her. "You're on Naruto's team, aren't you? What are you doing here? You're too young to be in a place like this."

"You have to come with me." Sakura said and gritted her teeth when Jirayia's eyes fell on the breast of the busty woman who sat on the couch next to him. "Naruto's in danger." She said, hoping that would break him out of it. "Big guys with black cloaks and clouds. They're scary."

Sure enough, that seemed to shake Jirayia out of his stupor. He sprang on his feet and looked down at the woman. "I'm sorry, my sweet, but I have to go." Sakura turned around and ran back to the hotel. She ran through the door and didn't stop when the man at the reception yelled at her to stop. She ran up the stairs until she reached the floor where she felt the chakras. Jirayia had already joined them.

"Naruto!" She shouted when she saw him standing close to two fearsome Akatsuki. He whirled around and his eyes widened when she saw her. Jirayia seemed too proccupied talking about himself to notice her coming. Sakura ran up to Naruto and stood by his side, resisting the urge to glare at Itachi and meet his gaze. She had to know if he was the Itachi who she met when she died or the old Itachi.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto stuttered in his shock. "What are you doing here? Those guys are dangerous."

Sakura nodded. "I know."

Jirayia finally noticed her standing there and raised his eyebrows. "Pinky, Naruto, stand back, I'm going to take care of this."

"Be quick about it, if you can." Sakura said. Jirayia's bushy eyebrows rose even higher at that but he nodded without a comment, his hands forming a quick seal. Sakura felt a weird sensention that lasted for just a second and then a voice filled her ears.

"Haruno-san." Sakura jumped. She looked at Itachi, still conscious about not looking in his eyes. "We need to talk quickly. I know you must be confused about what is happening to you. I assure you this is not a genjutsu, as you're probably thinking. It is a deal I striked with Mei-sama. You are, indeed, back in time."

Sakura couldn't help it. She looked up and glared right into his red eyes. "You could have told me what was happening! I thought I was going crazy!" Kisame, Jirayia and Naruto didn't seem to notice their conversation at all. It was all happening in Sakura's head.

Itachi looked apologetic. "I'm sorry but we were hard-pressed with time. We'll have a chance to talk about this another time. I'll explain everything. Now we must return to the present."

"Wait!" Itach paused and looked at Sakura. "Can you please not trash Sasuke when he comes here? His meeting with you was the thing that made him leave and I can't.. I can't lose him again." She looked down at her hands, uncomfortable and ashamed at showing so much emotion in front of him. He dispelled the genjutsu without answering.

"Kisame." Itachi spoke, turning to his partner. "We're leaving."

Kisame was so startled he nearly dropped his sword. "What?"

"We're leaving." Itachi repeated. "We won't be able to capture the boy now. We'll return another time." Kisame opened his mouth to argue, staring at his partner, indignation and shock in his eyes. Itachi didn't say anything else before he disappeared in a poof of smoke, a single leaf twirling in the air before it fell to the ground. Kisame gritted this teeth, glared at all of them and followed his partner.

"Itachi!" Jirayia, Naruto and Sakura turned when they heard Sasuke's enraged cry. His fierce look dropped when he didn't see his brother anywhere in the vicinity. "Where is he?" He snapped, clenching his fists. "He was right here! I could feel him."

"He left." Sakura said softly.

Sasuke's eyes fell on her. "You said you didn't know where Naruto was!" He hissed, glaring venomously.

"I didn't." Sakura replied, trying not to flinch at the look in his eye.

"Sasuke... this guy..." Naruto spoke tentatively, watching Sasuke carefully, his eyes wide with realisation. "This is the guy who killed your family? The one who you want to kill?"

Sasuke's hands clenched into fists again and he whirled around, running down the stairs. Naruto turned to look at Sakura helplessly.

"We're okay." She said softly, earning herself a confused look from him. "We're all okay."