Finding Family | A Naruto/LOTR Crossover

Prologue: Sakura and the Art of Running

Sakura stared at the forest in front of her. She'd have liked to say something along the lines of 'and the forest stared back at her' but that would be a huge lie. Trees were trees. They didn't have any eyes to glare back at her with. It was more confusing because she hadn't been expecting to see any trees after the fight with Kaguya. After she'd been turned into ash at a painfully slow rate. Her body shook like a leaf, nails digging into her soft skin as she hugged her knees to her chest. She didn't want to feel that pain again. It had hurt. It had scarred her very soul. Little crescent marks were left in the wake of her fingernails, teeth biting into her lip as she realised something with a start. Her nails were tiny. Stopping herself in her tracks, she had a proper look down at herself, trembling when she saw how close the ground was. How was that possible? How had she lost height? Her knees crashed into each other, still shaking in the wake of everything she'd experienced. She'd just died, for god's sake... How was she supposed to bounce back from that? She wasn't bubbly cheerful like Naruto. Nor had she survived through wars like Kakashi. She didn't even have a traumatic past like Sasuke... She stilled, hearing the gurgling of water nearby, deciding to focus on a more pressing issue. "Where the hell am I?" she whispered, jumping with a start at the sound of her own voice.

It sounded weirdly musical, the sounds completely different to what she was used to. How the hell was she even speaking a different language to begin with? But she'd died. She could still remember the feeling as she'd slipped away, the black numbness – a bliss after the burning pain, so much so, she'd actually sighed in relief when death finally took hold. Well, it was more like a mental sigh, her lips having already crumbled to ash.

Sakura looked around wildly, holding out hope she might spot something familiar to her. She was a shinobi of Konohagakure. They specialised in trees and leaves, so it came as a start to her when she realised she had no idea what kind of trees the ones surrounding her were. It was alien. Foreign. She bit her lip, uncaring as she drew blood. She was allowed to freak out. She'd just died... or at least she thought she had. So how had she ended up there? Was reincarnation or something, a thing?

She slapped her face, pressing her cheeks together, wincing at the slight pain. Nothing like Kaguya's All-Killing Ash Bones. Yet it proved she was alive, especially when coupled with the bright red blood pooling from the small cut on her finger. She was alive somehow... just not in her own body. Long pink hair fell in front of her face as if to contradict that very thought, making her freeze, because, honestly, who else had pink hair like that?

The sound of water rushing by had her head snapping around, her body moving itself over towards the waters on autopilot. She fell to her knees, leaning over the surface, staring into the big green eyes gazing up at her from it. Those were her eyes. Her hands went to her silky pink locks, noting how they were shinier than those of her... last life. Sakura wasn't too sure what to call it. Had she really been reborn? Her stare drifted down to the green tunic she wore. It was far too big for her, tightened around her tiny waist with a brown strap of some description. She swallowed audibly, pausing for a moment when she caught sight of her ears.

They were tapered at the ends, lending credence to the strange idea that she'd somehow been reincarnated. Was she even still in the Elemental Nations? The same world? She'd never heard of any pointy-eared clans, even while apprenticing under the Hokage.

She was so caught up in her blurred reflection she barely reacted to the flicker of metal in the corner of her eye. Instinct made her move, years of 'dodge the flying piece of metal and numerous other odd bits and ends Tsunade threw' coming into play. She missed Tsunade-shishou. She stumbled back on too short legs, glancing up at her would-be murderer only to pause at his appearance. A rather unfortunate one, black skin, rotting sharp teeth, deformed versions of pointy ears. Frankly she wasn't sure if he was actually a male. With the raggedy armour and greasy strands of hair it was practically impossible to tell. The only thing she knew was that she most certainly wasn't in Konoha anymore, and that the man—beast—she wasn't quite sure what to call them was staring at her like she was dinner.