Happy Birthday Sakura

This isn't really a birthday piece- there's no birthday celebrating for Sakura. In fact it's the opposite of celebrating.

It's the start of a not-so-happy story that's been in my head, where Sakura is the main character. Something that a part of me wishes happened at the end of Naruto.

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Sakura painted the rest of the seals on the two bodies lying in front of her. Going over the information in her head again, Sakura double checked her symbols and seal lines. 

Reassured that she had done all she could, she took a deep breath and pulled on her chakra. The seal at the top of her head unravelled unleashing a rush of chakra that made her skin glow with energy. She grit her teeth at the heady feeling of power and channelled everything she could into the newly crafted seals. 

With a twist of power and an almost whispered prayer, Sakura said, "Impure World Resurrection." She wondered if she should have renamed the technique. After all the changes she had wrought, it only vaguely resembled the original.

The two bodies in front of her surged with life, the elaborate seals around them channelling her power and allowing the bodies to shift forms. 

After what felt like hours but was probably mere minutes, the procedure ran it's course and a strange aura filled the air. Sakura swallowed back her apprehension and stood, waiting for the two she had summoned to get their bearings.

It was the familiar blue eyes that blinked open first. "Sakura-chan?" Though hesitant, Naruto's familiar bright voice made Sakura's chest ache as he sat up. "Where... what?"

Beside him, Sasuke clutched at his chest as he looked around with narrowed eyes.

When Naruto looked at her, his blue irises seemed twice as bright against the black sclera. "Sakura-chan, you look different. Your hair..." Naruto paused.

AC_D9: A bit of Sakura

This is a plotbunny about Sakura that has been pestering me every since Kaguya first appeared in the manga.

I've got a bunch of idea notes written for how the plot could go but I only have a tiny bit of a rough draft written.

Even so, I hope you enjoy it and the possibilities it hints at.

Warnings: Short and plothole ridden.
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“You would be a vessel,” the woman said. “The perfect vessel for me.”

There was a tinge of, god why did it have to be a vessel thing again. Wasn't Orochimaru enough? Did he get that whole thing from this she-demon?

“How am I the perfect vessel for you?” Sakura said, convinced that prolonging the conversation would give her an idea- any idea- on how to deal with this new madness.

“With you I'll be able to access every aspect of power. You have control and you understand the need for this.”

Sakura stayed silent.

“They refuse to listen. They think they are so special.” The woman's voice slid through her mind, her soft words filled with dark promise. “But we can make them bow.”

Sakura admitted it was a very tempting thought.

Sasuke and Naruto obliterated Madara's possessed body.

“Look at how easily they were deceived,” the woman said. “They only see what they want to see. And we can use that to our advantage. They won't know. They won't expect us. We can win, together.”

Sakura took a deep breath, thinking over her options. “Okay.”

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Personally, I think Sakura would make an awesome tyrant ruler.  

But my ideas are more of a heroic Sakura who traps Kaguya inside her and then goes on a long solitary journey to fix things. Obviously things don't go according to plan and Sakura becomes the most dangerous person in existence.

If there's already a story like this somewhere, please send me the link.

Polar

A Change in Age (Part 2)

A continuation of this.

I decided to change the disconnected scenes into an actual story with plot. I'm actually surprised how well that worked out.

Warnings: Not part of the AtO storyline at all. Mostly an excuse to browse through the Naruto wikia and come up with random plots. Not edited thoroughly.

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Harry grimaced as he landed in the Hokage's office. “Is there a reason that I'm being shunshin-ed to and from my apartment?”
“It's best to be cautious with Naruto being so vulnerable.” Tsunade said, “We don't want people to know that he's been de-aged.”
“That's be difficult, since he looks so...” He paused when Tsunade grinned.  “What?”
“Since you've noticed the obvious problem with keeping his current form a secret. I'm sure you'll agree when I say that we need to disguise him.” Tsunade grabbed the bag that was on her desk and pulled out a few bottles.
“Disguise him?” Harry asked.
Tsunade nodded and moved towards Naruto. “Hide everything that could make people connect him to Naruto by disguising him to look like you.”
“Like me? You think making him look like me will make it safer for him?”
Tsunade gave Harry a look that he assumed said 'obviously, you fool, now shut up and let me work'.
Naruto shuffled away from Tsunade, looking at her distrustfully.
Tsunade turned back to Harry.
Harry rolled his eyes. “Naruto. We're going to play a game.”
Naruto looked up at him. “A game?”
“We're going to pretend to be undercover ninjas.”
“Ninjas,” Naruto said with wide eyes.
Harry nodded. “But to be an undercover ninja, you need to get a disguise. And Hokage-sama will help us with your disguise.”
“Really?” Naruto turned to Tsunade, who immediately nodded with a gentle smile. He thought for a moment, moved forward towards her cautiously but kept a tight hold of Harry's sleeve.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Harry said simply, even as he watched as the Hokage carefully applied a white paste over Naruto's cheeks. In seconds the white paste turned into Naruto's skin colour and covered the black lines there perfectly. He watched silently as she changed Naruto's blonde hair into a pitch black.
Naruto blinked up at him with his trusting blue eyes. “Nii-san? Am I like a ninja now?”
Harry ruffled the soft black hair gently. “Yeah. With your new disguise, you're...” He paused, acutely feeling like he'd just given up and lost the fifteen year old Naruto that he knew. “You're a completely different person.”
Naruto giggled in pleasure and pretended to fight an invisible opponent.
Harry looked up to push aside his turbulent emotions, but his eyes met Tsunade's understanding gaze. “If that's all Hokage-sama,” Harry said. “I'd like to get some grocery shopping done.”
Three hours after leaving the Hokage's office, Harry hadn't bought any groceries. Instead he just walked around with Naruto, who had gotten tired of walking and had to be carried, buying pastries and other snacks from various vendors they passed.
“Your Highness!” A voice yelled out desperately.
Bored out of his mind and curious about what royalty looked like, Harry looked around. Not finding anyone dressed in extravagant clothes and jewellery, Harry turned back to the stand and tightened his hold of a fidgeting Naruto.
Harry tensed and stepped back as a burst of wind brushed across his face and something landed at his feet. He looked down and took another step back as a tall but old man knelt on one knee and stared directly at him.
“Your Highness!” The man sobbed, his multi-layered green clothes shimmering in the sunlight. “Finally, I've found you two after all these years. It's good to see you two safe and alive.”
Harry blinked at the man, looked around warily and shuffled backwards again as silently as he could. Apparently picking up on Harry's tenseness, Naruto stopped fidgeting and leaned in closer, hiding his face in the crook of Harry's neck.
“Your Highness?”
Trying to remember where everyone would be at this time of the day, Harry stared at the man's deceptively sane-looking eyes for a moment before he remembered Cat-san was supposed to be watching him. Thankfully, Cat-san had been attentive and appeared in front of Harry and Naruto shielding them from the man.
Cat-san spoke to the man in short and clipped sentences.
After a few minutes, the man exclaimed. “Very well! Then, I will talk to the Hokage myself.”
When Cat-san shunshin-ed him to an empty room in the administrative building, Harry asked, “Why didn't you tell him that he was mistaken?”
Cat-san stayed silent for a moment. “It's best to let Hokage-sama deal with such matters.”
“But...”
“When I intervened, I made quite a scene.” Cat-san said, “I didn't want to create a bigger scene in such a public space by starting an argument with the man.”
“Well, even if you did make a big scene, thanks for helping, Cat-san,” Harry said.
Naruto, who had been quiet and content to keep still in Harry's protective hold, turned and stared at the masked-man curiously.
Harry knelt down, allowing Naruto to stand on the ground. “Aren't you going to thank the man who protected us, Naruto?”
Naruto hesitated slightly. “Thank you... Cat-san.”
“You're welcome.” Cat-san sighed. “And it's Raccoon.”
Fully expecting the matter to be settled soon, Harry couldn't help but feel disheartened as he entered the Hokage's office and found Kakashi, Sakura and Sai there. “Naruto, why don't you go play with Sai while I talk to Hokage-sama?”
“Sai?” Naruto frowned.
Remembering Naruto's unusual amnesia, Harry walked over to Sai and pushed Naruto forward. “Sai is our friend, so you can play with him.”
“Friend?” Naruto questioned again.
Sai stayed silent, looking slightly uneasy as having to deal with a younger Naruto.
Thankfully Sakura leaned closer to Sai and whispered something in his ear.
Sai nodded, knelt down in front of Naruto and unrolled a scroll. With a quick flick of his hand, he pulled out a brush and drew some animals. “Can... do you think you can catch my ink creatures?”
Naruto gasped as the ink animals jumped out of the page with another flick of Sai's hand. And then without any prompting he chased after the ink animals.
Harry gladly went back and stood in front of the Hokage. “What happened?”
“The man claimed that you were a prince...”
“Of course, I'm not a prince!” Harry said in annoyance. “From which angle do I look like royalty?”
Everyone in the room blinked and shuffled uneasily, but didn't say anything.
“I don't get why you're listening to this man,” Harry said in irritation, ignoring their silence.
Tsunade sighed. “Because he has very authentic papers that show that he is a Minister from the Land of Light.”
“Land of Light?” Harry repeated as he watched Naruto chase Sai's ink creations around the office with loud laughter.
“A very small Country in the South that's filled with bioluminescent plants. At night, everything glows. The grass beneath your feet, the trees, even the algae in their ponds.”
“They named their country after glowing plants?”
“Glowing plants that can't grow anywhere else. All attempts to make them grow outside of the Land of Light has been a complete failure,” Tsunade said.
“I'm guessing the plants do more than just glow at night?”
Tsunade nodded curtly. “There are certain drugs that can only be made from the plants that grow in the Land of Light.”
Harry slumped, knowing that he wasn't going to like the rest of what she had to say.
“About three years ago, when the prince and his younger brother went missing, the Land of Light closed it's borders to all outsiders. Since the king had died soon after the youngest prince was born, the eldest pince was set to be king when he turned eighteen. We lost a crucial source of medicinal ingredients.”
Harry didn't need to hear any more. “And now with this man thinking I'm the prince... It's your chance to get inside and restart the trade.”
Tsunade nodded. “We might even find out what happened to the real princes.”
“I can't just...” Harry glanced at Naruto.
“You obviously won't be going alone. Team Seven will be joining you two.” Tsunade also glanced at Naruto. “And getting him out of the village for a while can work in our favour. No chance for the nosy people to find out his current form.”
Even though he was wary about the whole thing, Harry said, “If it can keep Naruto safe, then I don't mind leaving Konoha.”
“Good. At least you won't have much trouble with the physical aspects of looking like a prince,” Tsunade said  as she stared at his clothes. “The minister already confirmed your identical facial features. And your clothing habits work in our favour.”
Harry glanced down at his clothes. “What do you mean?”
“I haven't seen clothes that are as clean or well maintained as yours.”
Harry shrugged since he used magic to keep his clothes in good condition.
“But maybe we'll need to get traditional clothes that looks a little bit more expensive,” Tsunade said thoughtfully. “Something for both of you to wear.”
Cat-san tilted his masked face for an instant.
Tsunade grinned and nodded.
The masked-man bowed and disappeared from the room.
“Well that's another detail solved,” Tsunade said. She stared at Harry. “Now we just need to give you a crash course on Land of Light's history. Shizune, Kakashi, I'll leave that and his princely etiquette lessons to you two. You need to finish most of the things before you leave tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Harry yelped but then smiled reassuringly at Naruto who had stopped playing with Sai's ink creatures.
“You're lucky I convinced him that you couldn't have a celebratory reunion dinner with him tonight,” Tsunade said. “But he was insistent that you leave as soon as possible.”
“But...”
“We can't risk delaying your travel to your homeland,” she said. “It'll just create political problems that are best avoided.”
“I can't just leave. My owl just left for one of her long hunts the day before yesterday...” Harry paused, wincing at having to use Hedwig as a reason not to go through with their plan.
“Your owl seems able to find you anywhere.”
“She can.”
“Then there shouldn't be a problem. She'll come to you eventually,” Tsunade said in a no nonsense tone.
“She hasn't even seen Naruto like this...” Harry said, absently wondering how Hedwig would react to Naruto's new form. He also wondered if Naruto actually remembered her.
“I'm sure you'll handle things,” Tsunade said and pointed to a door at the side of the office. “That room is secure and big enough to have Naruto in there with you.”
“You promise that Naruto will be safe if we actually...”
It was Kakashi who answered. “We're his team, Harii. We'll definitely keep him safe.”
Sakura nodded.
“Fine,” Harry said.

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So, have you seen the design for Sakura's parents when they were introduced in the anime? Only found out about them through the wikia.

Yay, for random browsing doing research on there.

Polar

The Perfect Present

Warnings: Not part of AtO timeline at all. Un-edited and very much a drabble format.

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"Are you sure you don't want anything for your birthday?" Harry asked yet again.
"I just want you to be there, Nii-san."

=x=x=x=x=

"Something he really wants?" Sakura repeated.
Harry nodded. "He keeps saying that he doesn't want anything. But he must want something."
"I wish I could help you," Sakura said with a thoughtful frown. "But I really don't know what he'd want as a birthday present."

=x=x=x=x=

"Shikamaru!"
The teenager paused and turned to Harry. "So it's my turn to get questioned about Naruto's present?"
"Oh, you knew I was coming. That's good. So, can you help me?"
Shikamaru muttered irritably under his breath but eventually said, "Ninja supplies."
"Already gave him that before. I want to give him something better. Maybe something he wants not something he needs."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes and pulled out a cigarette.

=x=x=x=x

"No one could help me," Harry said in exasperation. "Can you believe that?"
Hedwig hooted.
Harry nodded, glad that at least Hedwig understood his concern about the whole thing. "I mean it's Naruto's birthday. I need to give him something so spectacular that... well, I mean I just need to."
Hedwig stared at him curiously and hooted in an almost questioning manner.
"No, I don't have any idea on what to get him," Harry said and slumped down in despair. "But I really want to get him something special. Maybe something that'll help him as a ninja."
Hedwig nipped on his sleeve, hooted, flapped her wings and looked up at him.
"Er?" Harry blinked at her in confusion. He ducked and rubbed his head when Hedwig flew up and clipped the side of his head with her wing. "What are you... do you have an idea for Naruto's present?"
Hedwig hooted and flapped her wings as she hovered in front of him.

=x=x=x=x=

Harry stared up at the run down looking castle-like structure that he'd travelled five days to find. "This looks rather ominous."
Hedwig hooted and landed on his shoulder tiredly, apparently content that she'd managed to lead him to this location.
"You stay outside," Harry said and pulled out his wand. With a deep breath, he entered.

=x=x=x=x=

Harry stumbled forward wearily, grimacing as one of the burns on his leg stung painfully.
Hedwig hooted at him in concern.
"We can't stop now. We're late as it is." Harry grimaced as he looked up at the dark sky. "Stupid cursed castle. Making me late for Naruto's birthday!"
"Harii!"
Harry blinked and turned to the source of the voice. "Izumo? What are you doing here?"
"What am I... you idiot! I was searching for you. Do you know how worried everyone is? And Naruto was just depressed the whole day because you weren't here today, on his birthday."
Harry frowned. "But I had to get his gift. And it's not my fault that stupid ghost kept trying to kill me."
Izumo stared at him. His eyes widened as he noticed the large scroll and weapon on Harry's back. "Harii..."
Harry shushed him. "I need to get to Naruto before the day is actually over. Otherwise I can't give him his birthday present."
Izumo rolled his eyes but carefully grabbed a hold of Harry's arm. Harry wasn't sure how far they travelled but within minutes, they were in very familiar surroundings.
"Nii-san?"
"Naruto!" Harry grinned, wrapped Naruto in a brief tight hug and shoved the large weapon and scroll from his back into Naruto's hands. "Happy Birthday!"
Naruto stared at the elaborate staff and the old weathered scroll as Hedwig landed on his shoulder and nuzzled the side of his face. "What..."
"If I remember correctly, the ghost said that was a jutsu scroll or something," Harry said.
"Ghost!" Naruto yelped but thankfully didn't drop any of the items Harry had fought to obtain.
"Jutsu scroll?" A female voice said.
Harry turned to the newcomer. "Hokage-sama?"
"Izumo said you were injured," she said and assessed him with critical eyes.
Naruto gasped as looked back at Harry. "What happened to you?"
"The ghost really didn't want me to take the scroll." Harry shrugged. "But I got most of my injuries when I burnt the castle down."
"You burnt down a castle?" Tsunade asked.
Harry nodded. "I had to."
"Why?" Tsunade asked as she healed a burn on his arm.
"There were un-dead creatures that were trying to kill me because of the angry ghost. And fire seemed to be the only thing that worked against them."
"And how did you start the fire?"
Harry smiled. "Matches."
"Matches?"
"Matches," Harry repeated blandly. "Lots of matches."
Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose in obvious irritation.
Naruto gasped loudly interrupting their conversation.
Harry turned to him and grinned. "Well, do you like it?"
Naruto looked up at him. "It's a jutsu scroll. There's so many different jutsu in here."
"Yeah, that's what the ghost said. I figured it was really important if he was willing to kill me because of it."
Naruto stared at him for a long moment. "It's an Uchiha jutsu scroll."
"It's a what?" Tsunade yelled.
Harry grinned. "That's good, right?"

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Oh, Harry. You should have just given him cake.

Polar

AtO What If: A Change in Age.

Warnings: Not at all part of AtO-storyline. More like a what-if divergence. Probably has way too much potential fluffiness/sappiness. No proper transitions between scenes.
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"...there were some complications and you're the only thing he seems to remember clearly," Tsunade said.
She opened her mouth to say something else. Probably give him more details. But considering he had already missed most of what she had said before, Harry decided to save everyone's time. Harry walked past her, ignoring her calls and pushed the heavy door open only to flinch when a loud childish wail reached his ears. He'd barely taken a step inside the room when something hurtled towards him and slammed into him with a loud and terrified sob. "Nii-san."
It took a moment for Harry to catch his breath and look down. He was vaguely away of broken whispers of  'nii-san' and 'where were you' from the tiny body clinging to his leg. Harry pushed the little body away from him, knelt down carefully and looked at the teary eyes with wonder and horror. "Naruto?"
A tiny child, a perfect replica of Naruto with spiky blonde hair and the unmistakable whisker marks on his cheeks, sobbed as he clung to Harry's hands.
Even though he wanted to question what was going on, Harry pushed his thoughts away and gently rubbed the edge of his long sleeve across Naruto's tear-streaked face.
Little Naruto, clad in a white hospital gown, stood still and his sobs quietened down slightly but he kept his blue eyes fixed on Harry.
Harry smiled when Naruto's red face was relatively dry. "There. Much better, don't you think?"
Instead of replying, Naruto burrowed his face into Harry's chest with a tight and desperate hug.
Harry automatically wrapped his own arms around the tiny trembling body, feeling more than a little lost. His mind kept trying to figure out the hows and the whys behind the situation. He didn't know how long he was lost in his thoughts, but he tightened his hold in brief panic when Naruto's body slumped forward. He sighed in relief when Naruto made a sleepy protest and grimaced at the cold numbness of his legs.
Just as wondered how he'd stand up from his kneeling position hands grabbed onto his arm and a familiar voice said, "Need some help?"
"Thanks, Kakashi-san." Harry flinched as he forced himself up. He stumbled slightly and probably would have fallen if Kakashi's grip hadn't steadied him. "Son of a ..." Harry cut himself off from cursing out loud as the renewed blood flow through his legs left him with the horrid prickling sensation of pins and needles on his skin. He took a second to adjust and secure his cautious hold of Naruto.
Naruto sleepily shifted in his hold and grabbed a fistful of Harry's shirt.
"I'm glad he calmed down," Kakashi said as he stared down at Naruto.
"Glad he..." Harry twitched, glanced down at Naruto and lowered his voice. "How did this even happen?"
Kakashi chuckled uneasily and turned to Tsunade.
"Are you going to tell me how this happened?" Harry said, wondering how he hadn't noticed the two of them in the room before.
Tsunade looked down at Naruto and sighed. "All we know is he stumbled across some sort of seal and then changed... after being knocked unconscious. They brought him in and I had just started examining him. But he woke up and panicked when he didn't recognize any of us."
"But he recognized me," Harry said. "Will he change back on his own?"
"I can't say."
"So can you fix this?"
"Not right now," Tsunade said reluctantly.
"Is there anything you can tell me?" Harry said tiredly.
"Until we can figure out how to fix this, you'll have to take care of him."
I already knew that, Harry wanted to quip. But he just nodded. "Can I take him home now?"
"It's probably for the best," Tsunade said. "I'll assign guards for you two."
Kakashi came forward. "Why don't I..."
Harry flinched away from the outstretched hands and tightened his hold on Naruto. "I can carry him." An utter lie considering his arm felt slightly numb at the moment.
But Kakashi just nodded and pushed the door open for Harry.
When they walked out of the hospital, Naruto huddled closer to Harry as a slight night breeze greeted them.
Kakashi hmm-ed thoughtfully. "I could shunshin you two to the apartment. No need to spend extra time out in the chilly air."
Harry wondered what a 'shunshin' was but nodded in agreement when another cool breeze made Naruto shiver.
                                                                   -x-x-x-x-x-
Harry woke up to the sound of muffled giggling and something moving around next to him. He opened an eye and even without his glasses, he could tell that a wide awake Naruto was staring up at him.
Harry moved his arm till it was on Naruto's head and then gently pushed it down. "Go back to sleep."
Naruto giggled, ducked away from Harry's hand and climbed up onto Harry's chest. "But nii-san, it's morning already..."
"Don't care. Go back to sleep," Harry said sleepily.
Naruto settled down.
Until someone knocked on the main door loudly.
                                                                    -x-x-x-x-x-
"All right, time to go," Harry said and stood up.
Naruto blinked up at him and then glanced towards the kitchen.
"What is it? Do you want something else to eat?"
Naruto shook his head. "Have to say bye."
"Say bye?" Harry repeated in confusion.
Naruto nodded and walked back to the kitchen.
Harry followed Naruto till they both stood in front of the family photographs on the kitchen wall.
Naruto tugged on Harry's sleeve and lifted his arms.
It took a moment for Harry to realize what Naruto wanted. Thankfully Naruto seemed patient as Harry fumbled to get a good hold of Naruto and lift him up. Just when Harry thought he had a secure hold, Naruto leaned forward till his face was right in front of the photographs and started whispering.
A minute turned into more than ten minutes.
But Harry just shifted his hold, wondering what Naruto was whispering to photographs.
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There's more to this- all disconnected scenes like the ones above- but in order to keep this post short, I'll put the remaining bits in another blog post later.

Polar

A HpxNaruto crossover starring...

Manda!

You know the large purple snake? Orochimaru's moody summon boss? Yeah, that Manda.

No, really, I'm serious.

Warnings: Crack-some-ness, Crack-in-a-hat and more crack than you know what to do with. Unedited. Short- so very short.
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"Manda!"

Manda groaned and coiled his body tighter, trying not to lose the comfortable heat that he'd managed to absorb.

"Manda!"

Manda groaned, opened an eye and stared up at the large silvery-grey snake. "What?"

"Don't use that tone with me!"

Manda sighed and raised his head slightly so that it seemed slightly more respectful. "What is it, mother?"

The large silvery-grey snake, his very old but still very deadly mother, hissed in exasperation. "Don't forget who laid the large egg you came out of! Show some respect, you hatchling."

Manda didn't twitch. Because the leader of the snake summons had a reputation to keep. Instead, he slowly uncoiled his body and raised his body so that he was staring down slightly at his mother. But he politely asked, "What's wrong?"

"Your brother."

Manda stifled a groan. There could only one brother his mother would actually bother him -from a nice restful nap- about. The youngest of their clutch, who was also their mother's favourite. Had been their mother's favourite for a very long time.