Square one

Chapter 1

White.

Everything was white.

Am I dead?

A sharp pain in her chest alerted Sakura, making her frown slightly. Did dead people feel pain?

"You are not dead, my dear."

Sakura immediatly swerved around to meet the unfarmiliar voice, reaching instinctively for her kunai holster and cursing when her fingers came into contact with air instead. Sakura glared at the woman in front of her, who was smiling gently down at her.

"Where am I?" Sakura demanded, glaring at the woman warily.

The woman chuckled, the light angelic sound of tinkling bells almost making Sakura envious. She looked down at Sakura, mirth still yet to fade from her kaleidoscope eyes.

Sakura's frown deepened. "Am I dead?"

"No, child." Sakura opened gaped at the woman who had spoken, but at the same time, had not moved her lips once. She raised a shaky finger to point at the mystery woman. "Y-You just talked."

The amusement in the woman's eyes frustrated her to no end, her emerald eyes conveying her annoyance. "Well," Sakura began irritatedly. "I'm definetly not alive-" she gestured to seemingly endless white hallway they were standing in. "So if I'm not alive, and I'm not dead, where am I?"

The gentle smile the woman sent did nothing to help Sakura's growing irritation. "Why, you are in between life and death," the woman explained cheerily.

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "How is this possible?"

"Simple, I saved you." The woman raised a dainty eyebrow as if Sakura had just asked the stupidest question imaginable, which made absolutly no sense, since she was the one who could talk without moving her lips.

"I have chosen you Sakura Haruno for a task, but it must require your consent," the woman continued. "You have been chosen to change the future."

If they could, Sakura swore her eyebrows would have climbed right into her hairline from being raised so high, which was saying something, considering her forehead was larger than most.

"Excuse me?"

The woman's face turned grim. "Konoha is falling-" Sakura winced. "The alliance is losing. It is only a matter of time until Madara wipes their ranks out for good. Once the infinite Tsukuyomi is in place, there will be no peace; no right from wrong; good nor evil. The sense of freedom will be lost, and so will the way of the shinobi."

Her words hit Sakura hard. Her brows furrowed and her fists clenched tightly by her sides. Finally, she looked up at the woman in determination, her emerald eyes glinting dangerously. "So what do I have to do?" Sakura questionned, her eyebrows furrowed.

She would do anything. Anything to change the living nightmare she was currently expiriencing. Anything to save the place she called home.

The woman smiled at her once more, and Sakura stared back at her determinedly. "You will be sent back into the past, during your academy years, one month before the graduation exam. There you will be given a change to change the future for the better and prevent what transpires. But be warned, you will only get one chance. If you fail to change the course of events I cannot send you back a second time. The fate of the world rests on your shoulders, Sakura."

Sakura's eyes widened, her posture becoming rigid. There was no way she was going to let that happen. No way she would let that many people die, not if she could prevent it.

"And the Uchiha massacre?" Sakura asked hopefully, but was disappointed when she was met with the woman's sad smile.

"Sorry dear, that event is irreversable."

Sakura closed her eyes and breathed heavily through her nose. When she opened her eyes, they gleamed like freshly cut diamands. "I'll do it," she said finally, with an affimative nod.

The woman beamed at her, and suddenly the white hallways seemed to be getting impossibly brighter. Sakura felt herself become numb as she fell, strangely not making contact with solid ground.

"I knew you'd do it. Good luck child."

The last thing that registered in Sakura mind was the sensation of being gently sucked into a whirlpool, before everything went dark.