J A D E

Prologue

Nothing.

There is nothing left behind, but corpses scattered around.

Blood.

They are all dead, because once again, I have failed to save them. Once again, I disappointed everyone around me. Once again, I am the only one, who is left behind, alone.

I thought, no, I believed that I have improved. I believed that I have changed, caught up to my peers, became strong enough to stand side-by-side with them. Yet, evidence is here, all around me. They are all dead, leaving me only one alive.

I bite my bottom lip, fighting tears that are pooling in my eyes.

I have failed.

I watch my friends, mentors lying down with dried blood on them. Others are trapped in Eternal Tsukuyomi. And none of them is alive.

I lean against the rock, sliding down on the ground. Loud, ugly sobs escape my mouth as tears cascade down my face.

Nothing has changed.

I have watched my teammates killing one another, while I could do nothing, but stare with wide eyes. I watched as my sensei was engulfed into the monster, as he tried to save me. I watched... I watched all my friends disappear one by one, yet I could do nothing.

The boys from Team 7 always needed to save me, ever since I was little. They would rush into the battle recklessly the second they thought that I needed help. I was always behind them, always depending on them to come and play hero, until they were no more.

And now I am left alone. No one from no background.  Crybaby. Weak. Scared. 

I sigh, wiping away the tears from my face. I look down at myself and cringe slightly at the caked blood, that does not belong me.

Blood.

Now, I more or less understand Tsunade-Sama's fear of blood. I feel chills running down my body, when I see them. But I am medic. I have no other choice, but to watch it and relive my mistakes.

"Sakura." A low, nearly inaudible voice fills my ears. It gains my attention, alerting me. But I dismiss it, believing that it is one of the tricks my mind is playing on me. "Sakura..." Hope fills me, when I hear the sound again, hope that someone else has survived, that there is still something, we could do to save others.

I turn around, small smile appearing on my mouth, hope filling my whole body, until my eyes clash with his. 

"Hogoromo-san." My voice is passive, hope leaving my body immediately. I stare at the Sage of Six Path with void of emotions. Something, old part of me nags to be a little more polite to the legendary man in front of me, but other, bigger and older part of me wants to punch him in the face. After all, he is one of the main reasons, we are here today.

"Haruno Sakura." The man repeats my name, as if testing it on his tongue. "I have a mission for you." His voice is calm, soothing even. I stare at his ring-like eyes, wondering what answer I have to give him. "Do you accept it?"

"No." I shake my head. He looks at me surprised, never waiting something like this from me. But I am alone, scared, and I am already ready to die, hoping to rekindle with my friends in the afterlife. "I don't trust you, Hogoromo-san." I whisper. "You could have stopped them, you could have stopped Naruto and Sasuke from killing one another, yet you decided not to intertwine."

"Yet, you could have done the same." Hogoromo-san whispers with small smile frozen on his lips. "Why didn't you do it, Sakura?"

I look down, shame creeping up on me. Answer appearing at the tip of my tongue, but I can't get myself to talk, without bile raising in my throat.

"Because I am weak." Finally, I manage to sob out the words. He nods at me, not saying anything else. "I have never been strong enough." I add in quieter voice.

"What if I am going to give you a chance to change it?" He asks me, gaining my full attention once again. "I am offering you a mission, Haruno Sakura, to go back in time and change the future." I nod, words frozen on my lips. "Now, do you accept it Haruno Sakura?"

"I accept."